Su Benji and the Three Kingdoms
by Turkey Hunter
Summary: Emperor Xian is eventually dethroned, and the land is thrown into chaos. One person will emerge from the chaos to rule over all. A story about an OC, Su Benji, and his quest to rule China and the known world.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

The Tales of Su Benji And the Three Kingdoms

Attributed to Luo Guanzhong's Three Kingdoms classic novel

Created by Turkey Hunter

This story was created out of the sheer interest of a young warrior that was killed at the age of nine by his mother and father.

His father had a dream of blood in the palace and the usurp of the Han throne. The person who did this in his dreams was his own son.

He conferred with his wife on this matter who said, "The boy must die now, or the land will be in chaos and the people will suffer eternally."

In the dead of night they broke into theirs son's room and stabbed him to death.

They both later hung themselves from the town walls, when they discovered the person in the dream turned out to be Cao Cao.

This story is about what could have happened if he was left to live and fight for China.

His name has remained a mystery until now as we have discovered it is Su Benji style Sunzi son of Su Xian, born in the Riverlands in AD 170.

At the age of six Su Benji was skilled in the arts of war as well as most weapons as his family was quite wealthy.

At the age of nine he participated in a weapons contest in Cheng Du.

Su Benji wielded his weapons so skillfully that not even the most skillful of warriors could match his sword dance.

This earned him the attention of Liu Yan, governor of the Riverlands.

Liu Yan wanted to adopt Su Benji as his son, but Su Xian insisted that Sunzi stay with his family until he was the age of fifteen, thus old enough to participate in the army.

Liu Yan was greatly disappointed, but finally dropped the subject as Yang Yun, his advisor, suggested that he inquire again in a few years.

Sunzi grew stronger and taller each month, becoming more skilled with weapons and archery.

He also studied the formations of battle and maps of China frequently. His tutor in teachings was Sun Yao a scholar in warfare. Sun Yao had a son Sun Tzu, style Wei Huan, that was the same age as Su Benji.

They bonded quickly and at the age of eleven they decided to become sworn brothers marking their seal with blood.

At this time Emperor Ling had been in power for thirteen years and rebellions were beginning to sweep the land due to corrupt officials and eunuchs. All governor ships were advised to prepare armies and train them in case of an emergency.

Liu Yan began to a mass troops and drill them for war.

At this time Yang Yun reminded Liu Yan about Su Benji and said "Now would be the perfect time for you to ask again for Su Benji to be your son."

"You are quite right," replied Liu Yan.

Thus he set out to the Su residence to ask Su Xian if he could have Su Benji as his son.

After a grand banquet Su Xian replied, "My son is still too young and completely useless to you because he's too young to know about warfare."

Liu Yan knew Su Xian was lying as he had placed a spy among the many servants and maids in the Su household.

He replied, "Lets see if he knows warfare and give him a test."

Su Xian was terrified for he knew his son was already a mastermind at warfare and tactics. Unable to dishonor the governor while in the presence of his guards he summoned Sunzi to the dining room.

Sunzi prostrated himself before Liu Yan and said, "The governor of the River lands is here because he wants me as his son, not?"

Liu Yan asked, "How do you know my rank and title and even why I am here?" Sunzi responded,

"The constellations have moved dramatically in the last few years. Last night it showed that an high officer was on the move in the River lands. Thinking of none ranking higher than you, I assumed you were on your way here to inquire again about me being your son. Furthermore the constellations have shown that a rebellion is in the works. Thus you have undoubtedly assembled an army by order of the emperor."

Liu Yan was stunned by Su Benji's quick answers to what was happening in the kingdom by watching the stars.

Liu Yan was furthered impressed by Su Benji's talents and took him as his son after Sunzi persuaded his father that it was ordained by the heavens that he should be the governor's son.

Su Benji became Liu Yan's adopted son on one condition, that Sun Tzu become the governor's son as well.

Liu Yan asked why would he want him as a son when Su Benji replied, "Sun Tzu knows more about tactics in warfare than I do. He studies maps and read _The Book Of Changes_ and composed an essay explaining all the major and minor views of the book in less than an half a day. He is a prime minister in the makings only beset for an emperor."

So after hearing this Liu Yan also adopted Sun Tzu as his son and headed back to Chengdu.

Upon his return though many top and minor officials objected the adoption of Su Benji and Sun Tzu as the governor's sons.

Fa Zheng, a court advisor, remarked in behalf of the two boys, "Sunzi has the will of dragon and power of a ox, thus another Zhang Ren in the making. Sun Tzu has more cunning than a tiger and is, I believe a better strategist than I."

At this most of the officials began praising the two boys for Zhang Ren was the best war leader and fighter in the ranks of Liu Yan's army and Fa Zheng was the best strategist in the army.

So the years passed and Su Benji and Sun Tzu trained vigilantly for the day upon entering the army. Many great officers strove to help the two learn everything possible, but many more found themselves being taught by the two, to their dismay.

Finally, it was the year AD 184, and as Sunzi predicted The Yellow Turbans, led by Zhang Jiao, led an uprising in the kingdom.

Emperor Ling summoned the leaders of the kingdom to lead their armies out to stop the rebels.

Sun Jian, Cao Cao, Dong Zhou, Liu Yu, Liu Yan, and many others responded to the call to arms, leading their armies out to fight the traitors to the Han.

Unfortunately, Su Benji and Sun Tzu were still to young to participate in the army, but Liu Yan had them enter the army anyway, due to the fact that Su Benji predicted that the war would last more than a year.

Liu Yan, Su Benji, Sun Tzu, Yan Yan, Fa Zheng, and Zhang Ren set off from Chengdu with an army of 50,000 to fight the rebels in Yiling in the Jingzhou district.

Many people along the way informed the army of the rebels movements and pillaging in Jingzhou so the army marched double time to protect the people.

Gong Du was currently in charge of the rebel forces of excess of one hundred thousand stationed at Yiling.

Upon hearing of Liu Yan's army Gong Du asked his lieutenants, "Who will go and crush Liu Yan's army?"

Among them a man rose.

He was 9 spans tall and as big as an ox.

"I Li Yen shall take the field."

Li Yen rode off with sixty thousand men to do battle with Liu Yan.

Scouts soon reported in to Liu Yan about the enemy army. Liu Yan then asked his strategist Fa Zheng what to do.

Fa Zheng responded, "A frontal assault should disintegrate the rank's of the Yellow Turbans who are completely untrained for battle."

Sun Tzu sitting next to Fa Zheng interjected, "The enemy is not to be underestimated. Even the weakest soldiers will fight to the death when rallied. I propose we send Su Benji with a force to kill their leader, and then the ranks will fall apart before our eyes."

Liu Yan saw the genius in Sun Tzu's foresight and quickly summoned Su Benji into the tent. "Will you lead an army out to defeat the turbans?"

Su Benji responded, "Only if Sun Tzu will accompany me."

Liu Yan conceded, giving Su Benji command of fifteen thousand crack troops.

Su Benji said though, "I do not need that many troops to win this battle. All I need is five hundred mere soldiers for Li Yen is merely a wannabe warrior."

Liu Yan granted this request even with most of the assembly objecting.

Su Benji set out with five hundred horsemen to defeat Li Yen's army of sixty thousand.

At the fifth watch the two armies met at Yidu.

Sun Tzu inquired Sunzi of how he would defeat Li Yen.

Benji responded, "Li Yen is to over confident and will think of me as a young child. I will show him his mistake with his life."

Su Benji rode off to the front line and met Li Yen. Just as Su Benji had predicted Li Yen immediately requested a duel. Su Benji responded, "You are not worthy of a challenge with me."

Su Benji picked up his spear and launched it towards his opponent, who was standing a good hundred yards away, and before the stunned Li Yen could react the spear sheared his head clean.

The rebel soldiers were scared stiff and decided to join Su Benji's forces.

So Liu Yan was quite surprised when Su Benji returned to the camp with his five hundred soldiers and sixty-thousand extra, thanks to Li Yen's death.

"How did you do it?" questioned Liu Yan.

"It was simple," replied Su Benji, "Li Yen may look like a tiger but really inside he is like a kitten. Simply put he had way to much overconfidence and was thickheaded. As it says in The Art of War, one of Sun Tzu's rules is to look strong when you are really weak."

Liu Yan was greatly impressed by Su Benji's knowledge and calmness on the battlefield, so Su Benji was in command of his own army, when Liu Yan's forces marched to defeat Gong Du at Yiling.

Meanwhile in Yiling, Gong Du recently learned of Li Yen's defeat and the defection of his men.

Word had also spread throughout the camp of the warrior called Su Benji, and many soldiers began to panic and flee Gong Du.

The few advisors in the army questioned Gong Du of the problem but Gong Du ignored their pleas, and returned to his room and would not come out on the pretext of illness.

This disheartened the soldiers there even more, and many more left to join Liu Yan's forces.

When Liu Yan's army marched upon Gong Du's encampment, there was barely a thousand soldiers to fight them.

Liu Yan met with his advisors and said this, "I do not want to fight Gong Du's already weak army. How I can we defeat them in a way none of our soldiers would die."

Sun Tzu immediately answered, "We still have Li Yen's head. Let Su Benji ride out with it and simply put fear into the remaining troops thus forcing them to surrender."

All there agreed with the plan and Su Benji rode out with Li Yen's head to the enemies camp.

The soldiers there were already afraid of Sunzi, and upon seeing him with Li Yen's head all of the troops there surrendered quickly to Liu Yan's army.

Gong Du's guards brought out Gong Du and presented him to Liu Yan.

Gong Du pleaded for his life, but Liu Yan showed no remorse to the traitorous rebel to the Han, beheading him on the spot.

Thus Liu Yan lost not a single soldier on his campaign for the imperial court, and word of Su Benji's and Sun Tzu's strength and wits quickly spread throughout the land.

Meanwhile the emperor and his council decided to have a meeting with the two new heroes in the land, and an imperial envoy was sent to Su Benji's residence and Sun Tzu's.

Yet before the envoy was sent the two heroes appeared before the imperial court.

Su Benji said, "Did the royal emperor want to see us in person?"

"But how did you know we planned to meet you," questioned Wang Yun, an imperial advisor at the time.

"The stars told me of a an important visit to the capitol and I assumed that since I had just defeated a large group of rebels quite recently that it was I to make the visit."

All of the emperor's advisors were amazed by Su Benji's intellect, and quickly gathered around him, to discuss their ideas with him.

Except He Jin, the emperor's uncle.

He Jin quickly vanished into the shadows of the palace, unknown by all present.

There he retired to his room, where he suddenly encountered Zhang Rang and Duan Gui, two of the ten eunuchs in charge of most of the affairs at court.

The two eunuchs assassinated He Jin and their act would fuel the death of all ten eunuchs and the eventual dethroning of the current emperor.

Meanwhile, before the coup consumed the capitol, Su Benji and Sun Tzu flee to their appointed city of Jiang Ling, and this is where the true story begins.


	2. Chapter 2: Raid Under Darkness

Su Benji looked around at his elite guards.

Each bore the scars of many battles for Su Benji only chose experienced soldiers to be in his personal army.

He was quite proud of them for they had easily broken through the pitiful guard that was stationed in the dining hall. In fact not a single soldier had been lost yet in this assassination mission.

He and his guards though knew quite well of the importance of this mission.

After Dong Zhou took the capitol, Su Benji returned to his governing city of Jiang Ling.

Upon returning he learned the horrible news from his brother, Su Ru, of the death of their parents from Liu Yan's own troops.

Su Benji in, his rage, quickly informed Su Foe, the eldest brother of the Su family, to gather a dozen of the most experienced and loyalist soldiers in Benji's army. For they would have to help Su Benji breach Liu Yan's castle and assassinate him.

Sun Tzu meanwhile was in charge of making sure the mission was well planned. It only took him a minute for he had been thinking of one ever since he joined Liu Yan's army. The plan was ingenious, the attack group struck out at night.

After Su Foe set fire to some of the neighboring fields, thus drawing out most of Liu Yan's army, the attack force entered unchallenged into the castle.

In fact up to the point that they entered the dining hall, which they took care of the problem quickly, there was no soldiers to be found.

"Look Out!"

Su Benji quickly rolled out of the way of a cloud of arrows that came from the opposite end of the room.

Unfortunately two soldiers weren't so lucky as they didn't have the quick reflexes of Su Benji. Their bodies were hardly recognizable as the arrow sliced through their bodies and their armor.

"Damn." Su Benji had hoped to find no resistance to the resting chambers of Liu Yan, but of course one must always expect the unexpected.

With lightning quick reflexes Su Benji fired two arrows from his advanced crossbow, which his father had made himself right before he died.

Both arrows found their marks as two dark shadows at the end of the room toppled over.

Benji's guards made to move to the end of the hall to finish the rest of Liu Yan's patrol, but Su Benji halted them.

This was his fight and he already felt bad for having to make these good men fight for him.

Unsheathing his sword Benji sprinted across the room, dodging arrows as he went. Reaching the other end of the room Su Benji found four guards who were drawing their swords.

The closest man to Benji found himself quickly sliced in half by Death's Hand, the name of Su Benji's sword. The other three soldiers decided to try and over power Benji with their numbers.

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Zhao Guang couldn't believe the night he was having.

First his mistress decides to leave him with his two sons, and now this surprise raid on his lord's castle. To add to this his best friend was just sliced in half by the warrior standing no more than ten paces from him.

He didn't know the other two guards that had already been killed by the warrior, but he hoped that their souls passed inspection by the gods in heaven.

"Let us defeat this warrior with numbers and avenge our fallen comrades."

"_You have got to be kidding me_", thought Zhao, but the other guard obeyed the sergeant's command.

They didn't stand a chance as the warrior, _"god he was quick_", sliced through both of their throats with two strokes of his blade.

"_Wait a minute, I recognize those flames on that sword. Oh, no!"_

Zhao turned and ran as fast as he could, for he knew he stood know chance against the warrior, for it was-

"Ugh!"

Zhao suddenly felt an increasing pain and he couldn't breath. He looked down to see an arrow protruding from his chest. His hands felt increasingly warm as they became drenched from his own blood.

Zhao fell to his knees staring at the floor, knowing that he was going to die.

He can't though, his sons would never forgive him. Zhao fought the coming darkness as best as he could.

Footsteps approached him and he managed to raise his head to look at his attacker, who was nose to nose with him.

"Su Ben-," but before he could finish he felt a new pain in his throat, and this time Zhao was overcome by the increasing darkness.

----------------------------------------------------

Su Benji sheathed his sword, there was no more of Liu Yan's guard left.

He knew the face of the man he had just killed. He had been a sword dueler he dueled with in the training camps.

He had lost.

"Lets keep moving," he whispered to the remaining ten of his guard.

They complied as amazement shown in their eyes of his recent feat.

It was nothing really.

He had at the age of thirteen taken on a dozen bandits who were plundering a caravan of goods. He defeated them all with only rocks and a very good stick which he kept in his house as a trophy.

Su Benji and his troops rounded the corner of the hall that marked the entrance of the sleeping chambers.

It was time to finish this.

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Liu Yan awoke to the sound of a scream.

_For goodness sake it was only a fire. Probably a farmer's house caught on fire and he's just crying over it._

He was eager to get back to sleep though because he had just had a very long day. The monthly taxation occurred today and many citizens weren't too happy with that; a riot had broken out in camp which caused that stupid fire that was raging outside, and of course the killing of his adopted son's parents didn't go as planned. How was he to know that the Su family had adopted a son?

His soldiers had arrived as planned to the estate of the Su family.

The estate was rather quite lovely with a magnificent garden along with a koei pond. That was where most of the fighting took place, and to say the least, the garden is no more.

The Su's mere dozen guards didn't stand a chance to the thousand soldiers he sent, led by Zhang Ren.

Su Xian was hacked to pieces near the pond by Zhang Ren, his wife suffered the same fate.

Then there was that stupid child, the one they never expected.

The lad had obviously been given the same training as Su Benji for he killed twenty privates, twelve sergeants, and four captains to be exact.

He didn't carry the family name of the Su, but a different name.

Liu Yan couldn't quite think of the name at the moment but what did it matter.

The kid disappeared after he figured out that Su Xian was dead. Though, what if that kid was trying to assassinate him right now?

Then of course there was Su Benji. He had obviously found out about the death of his parents, probably from that damn kid.

There was also disturbance in his army from Su Xian's last words as he died.

Liu Yan couldn't for the life of him remember the exact words at the time.

Oh, well.

The odds of Su Benji coming on this night were extremely low.

Liu Yan went back to sleep, comforted by the fact that fifty armed guards, along with Zhang Ren, were in the same room watching for any signs of an attack.

Not one soul in that room would live to see the sunrise.

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Su Benji halted his men.

Something was definitely not right.

There was no guards in the halls or in the other sleeping chambers. The only inhabitants so far were a bunch of court ministers who had probably helped Liu Yan with the plan to murder Su Benji's parents. They were all tied and gagged at the moment.

Only one thing entered Su Benji's mind.

A trap.

"Cai Gong."

"Yes my lord," responded a guard closest to Su Benji.

"Go and get the ministers," responded Benji.

"May I ask why?"

"We're letting them go."

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Zhang Ren was bored out of his mind.

_This has to be the worst assignment I've ever been on,_ he thought.

The best day of his life had been the first day of the month as he was ordered by Liu Yan to execute Su Benji's father.

Which he thought could offer quite a challenge being the fact that he was the father of Su Benji.

Unfortunately, the father of Su Benji didn't live up to Zhang Ren's expectations, he fell very quickly to Zhang Ren's swift blade.

What made that day so special though, was that young boy.

Zhang Ren had just finished the bloody job of decapitating Su Xian, when he came across a battle that still raged in the garden entrance.

He was quite surprised to see a young boy, no more than thirteen, taking on a whole regiment of soldiers.

The boy was doing quite a good job of it too as the boy's dragon crested sword slaid all who were in his way.

Finally Zhang Ren had thought, a decent challenge. Yet no, the boy saw the body of Su Xian and fled before Zhang Ren could offer a duel.

Zhang Ren though now had a purpose in life, and that was to find that boy and defeat him in combat. Honorably of course.

Unfortunately, his search for the boy was futile, as word of Su Xian's death spread to Su Benji, and now he was stuck baby-sitting his lord while he slept.

Zhang Ren would bet his entire stipend that the boy at the estate told Su Benji.

Zhang Ren was snapped out of his reminisce by the sound of the door opening to his lord's chamber.

Zhang Ren looked towards the entrance and saw the outlines of at least ten men.

"_Looks like tonight won't be as boring as I thought."_

Zhang Ren quickly, and silently, gave orders to the other fifty guards in the room.

Bows were drawn and arrows were aimed at the assailants entering the room.

"_Su Benji will not escape me._"

Zhang Ren had never been so wrong in his life, for he failed to notice the seal of the court, embedded in the hats of the, so-called, assailants.

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Zhang Song couldn't believe it.

The fool Su Benji had just let him and his fellow court officials be free.

"_Beats being gagged and tied so tight that the breath escaped your lungs," _thought Zhang Song, _"and now to tell Liu Yan where Su Benji is hiding_."

Zhang Song opened the door to Liu Yan's sleeping chambers, entering the room along with the other ten ministers.

Zhang Song forgot about the guard Liu Yan had deployed in his room, and that would cost him and the others their lives.

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Zhang Ren gave the order for his men to release their barrage of arrows.

The men who entered the room never stood a chance as all of the fifty-one arrows found their marks.

Ten of Zhang Ren's men went to the entrance of the door to check the bodies.

Suddenly, and out of no where, all ten near the door fell to a barrage of arrows coming from the other side of the door.

Zhang Ren realized his mistake way too late as eleven armed men entered through the door of the sleeping chambers.

One of them stood out among the rest, he was at least two feet taller than them.

"Men draw your swords," yelled Zhang Ren, "Su Benji is here."

--------------------------------------------

Su Benji charged through the room as did his guard.

The plan had worked without a flaw.

Su Benji had let the ministers go letting them think that they had been freed. Just as he had thought they had went right for their lord's sleeping chambers, and thus springing the trap that was meant for Benji's men.

Benji got an extra bonus when ten of Zhang Ren's men went to check the bodies.

Needless to say they were dead now.

Benji, and his guard, clashed with Zhang Ren's men near the middle of the huge room.

Su Benji flew through the line of men, slashing and hacking, his way through.

Benji counted the bodies he killed as he went.

"One," as a man was sliced in half by Death's Hand.

"Two, Three, Four," as Benji did a revolving motion with his sword, killing three in mid swing.

"Five, Six," two more fell to a quick slash to the throats.

Needless to say, Liu Yan's guards were being demoralized with each kill from Su Benji.

Benji crossed to the other side of the room, noting the fact that Liu Yan now only had twice as much men then Benji's.

His guards were doing well as they also slashed their way through the enemy.

He saw though, that two of his men were engaged in combat with a strong warrior, near the middle of the room. Both of the men were having a tough time as the warrior repeatedly blocked their attacks.

"_It must be Zhang Ren_," thought Su Benji.

Suddenly, both men fighting the warrior, had sticks penetrating through their abdomen. They really weren't sticks though they were actually spears.

Su Benji noted this, unsheathed his sword, and charged the warrior.

It was too late for the other men, their intestines spewing out of their bodies, as the warrior, who was indeed Zhang Ren, pulled the spears out of their stomachs.

Zhang Ren turned, noticing a warrior sprinting across the room to engage him.

This was the moment he had been waiting for, to defeat Su Benji.

Zhang Ren hurled both of the spears, that were in his hands, towards Benji.

Benji saw the spears leave the hands before even Zhang Ren was aware of them leaving his own.

Benji's sword deflected the spear on the right, that was aimed at his shoulder. The other spear, he simply plucked out of the air and hurled at the stunned Zhang Ren.

The spear found its mark as it penetrated the left eye of Zhang Ren, continuing it's bloody path through the skull, breaching its way out the back of the brain.

Zhang Ren's lifeless body would have crumpled to the floor, if had not been for the shaft of the spear keeping him propped upright.

Ren's body stood in the middle of the room, in the middle of the battle, and was in between Su Benji and the murderer, Liu Yan.

---------------------------------------------

Liu Yan couldn't believe this was happening.

Why he had been so sure that fifty men, and Zhang Ren, would be enough to stop Su Benji.

Yet no, as Zhang Ren and at least half the guard were now dead.

He now remembered what Su Xian had said to his army.

Su Benji is a god.

The thought was absolutely preposterous.

"_How could he be a god?_"

Liu Yan peered out from underneath the safety of his bed.

The battle was drawing to a close as only four of Benji's guard remained and just as many of Liu Yan's own guard.

"_Where was Su Benji though_?_"_

Liu Yan failed to look on the other side of the bed as a pair of spiked gloves casually grabbed Liu Yan's feet.

Liu Yan screamed for all he was worth, which was apparently a lot.

Su Benji held the pleading Liu Yan upside down.

"Please do not kill me," yelled Liu Yan. "I didn't mean for your parents to be killed."

"You lying sack of shit," returned Su Benji. "You personally asked the court to exterminate my family under false pretenses."

"No, I swear I didn't."

"Silence," commanded Benji.

"Don't kill me please. I'll give you all the gold I have," Liu Yan had to think of something fast. "Uhhh... you can have my mistresses."

By now Liu Yan's face was turning quite red, due to being upside down for an extended amount of time.

Su Benji quickly flipped Liu Yan around, wrapping a hand around the prefect's throat.

"And to think that I was eager to join your army," commented Benji dryly. "I'll let hell deal with you."

Su Benji hurled Liu Yan across the room.

Liu Yan's head struck the wooden walls of the room, and he was instantly knocked out.

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The battle was over in the sleeping chambers as two of Benji's guard ran up to report the losses.

"My lord there is no more of Liu Yan's guard alive."

"How many of our guard is left," questioned Benji?

"Us my lord, and Cai Gong who is checking the bodies."

"Summon Cai Gong, we are leaving this place."

"Yes, my lord."

The two guards quickly left to fetch Cai Gong.

Su Benji walked over to the wooden wall next to Liu Yan's bed. He then began tapping each panel of the wall, waiting to hear the hollow sound of space.

Sun Tzu had promised him that the local servants would remove part of the wall near Liu Yan's bed, to make an easy escape for the raid party.

"_Thump."_

"Ha, there it is," mumbled Benji.

The sound of metal boots announced the return of Benji's guard.

"My lord, I checked all the bodies," said Cai Gong hurriedly. "There are no survivors."

"Good work, Cai Gong," replied Benji. Cai Gong truly will be a terrible loss to him, and so will the other two guards who fought so bravely.

He began to shift his hands to behind his back, finding the two throwing knifes, stowed away in Benji's belt.

Su Benji turned to face Cai Gong and the two other guards. The guards didn't notice that Su Benji's hands were grasping two knifes, hidden in his belt.

"You three have all shown your bravery and camaraderie in this raid, and for that I hope the heavens will surely let all of you through it's gate."

"My lord, but were still alive," replied Cai Gong, beginning to think that Benji was going mad.

"I'm truly sorry."

With that Su Benji tossed the two knifes at speeds, that did not exist at the time, and the guard on the left of Cai Gong was impaled between the eyes. The other guard managed to turn his head so that the knife struck him through his right ear, and the tip of the blade was sticking out the other side. Both of the guards were killed instantly.

All Cai Gong could do was stare awestruck at the quick reflexes of Su Benji.

Benji drew his sword, bringing it down on top of Cai Gong's head.

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Su Benji prayed in honor of the three that had just died.

He knew that it wasn't right to kill them, but if the Han court found out about the raid then he would be forever branded a traitor to the Han.

Being a traitor wouldn't get him very far with raising a army to rule China, now would it?

With the dreadful deed done, Su Benji pulled out a small black ball with a piece of string sticking out of one end. The black ball was actually a crude incendiary grenade that Sun Tzu had given Benji right before he left.

Benji struck two pieces of flint together near the fuse of the grenade, and in a matter of seconds the fuse was lit.

The countdown began.

Sun Tzu had promised Benji that the fuse would last thirty seconds.

Benji would need every second to escape.

He quickly pulled away the panel that had produced the dull thump, and sure enough there was no other side to the wall.

Benji ran through the opening, never looking back, as he raced to the gate of the palace grounds.

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Liu Yan opened his eyes slowly.

"_What happened?"_

Oh, yes, that devil Benji hurled him into the wall.

"Uhhhgg," moaned Liu Yan. "Damn my head is killing me."

Liu Yan looked up to see three of Benji's guards, dead in front of him.

He knew that those bodies hadn't been there before.

Maybe Liu Yan's guards had won the battle, and managed to chase Benji away.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

No answer.

Liu Yan's hearing was beginning to return, and he began to hear a faint hissing sound.

Liu Yan looked to the right of the bodies, wishing he hadn't. For there was a burning fuse, which disappeared into a small black ball.

Liu Yan recalled Benji's departing words, "I'll let hell deal with you."

Indeed, hell's fiery flames would deal with Liu Yan as the fuse reached the liquid, stored inside the ball.

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Benji ran through the gates, hearing a large whoosh of air, that came from the right side of the palace.

Though he wanted to look and witness the fall of his former father, he knew if he stopped, he would surely be discovered.

Five minutes later Benji made it to the top of a towering hill, and now, he knew it was safe to look.

But had the bomb done it's job?

It had and more.

Benji turned to see that the entire palace was now on fire, due to it's wooden structure.

Benji finally smiled.

His father could rest in peace.


	3. Chapter 3: United Against a Tyrant

_The garden was beautiful._

_A mesmerizing arched gate stood in front of the entrance. Engraved on the arc were the words: "Heroes aren't born, they are made." _

"_This must be my father's garden," said Su Benji._

_Su Benji walked under the entrance marveling at its marble structure._

_As Benji passed through he also noted that there were two rows of flowers, one to each side of him. The rows of flowers were ingeniously made to serve as a path. _

_Butterflies were swarming over every flower as they fed upon the delicious nectar that the flowers produced._

_Benji noted a very fine swallowtail and he quickly plucked it from its perch on a magnolia. He was careful though not to harm the insect for it had done nothing to him. The nectar it stole from the flower actually aided it. The swallowtail was also carrying the pollen from other flowers. When the swallowtail landed to feed upon the magnolia the pollen on its feet had escaped into the reproductive part of the plant to reproduce with the plant's stamen. _

_Benji cupped his hands around the butterfly, and then opened them just slightly so as to examine it. After examining the specimen, Benji released the swallowtail back onto the magnolia that it was feeding on. _

_Su Benji, as a kid, had loved to watch the butterflies in the garden. His father would give him lectures in this very place about how the butterflies were essential for the flowers to reproduce. _

_Yet with the war on the Yellow Turbans, Benji had been forced to leave his home and fight for Liu Yan. _

_What a terrible choice that was._

_Benji continued along the path to a huge pond which was placed within the middle of the huge garden. A brilliant walkway crossed the middle of the pond so one could look at the huge koei near the bottom of the clear water._

_Benji walked to the edge of the pond where it was surrounded by agates of all colors. _

_He picked up an agate and tossed it across the pond. It easily made it across with fifty yards to spare. _

_As a kid he had always tried to throw a rock across the two hundred yard pond. He finally succeeded at the age of thirteen._

_He bent down to pick up another rock._

"_Help me!"_

_Benji dropped the rock, startled by the sudden cry for help._

"_What who goes there," questioned Su Benji._

_Suddenly Benji wasn't alone as the forms of men began to take shape all over the garden._

_He recognized a guard that had always scolded him for lack of discipline._

_Benji made to cross to him, but then more men arrived and the whole garden was thrown into chaos._

_Flowers were trampled as men ran back and forth. The pond was turned red by the fighting taking place on the bridge._

"_Help me, my son!"_

_Then Su Benji recognized another person, his father Su Xian._

_His father was the one calling for help._

"_I'm coming father," responded Benji. _

_As Benji made his way to his father it became apparent that he wasn't the one being called to help._

"_There you are my son," cried Su Xian as a small teenage boy suddenly appeared, fighting his way through the soldiers._

_Benji watched as the boy slashed his way through the ranks of the enemy soldiers, but suddenly the boy stopped his onslaught. _

_Now an ear shattering scream could be heard coming from the direction of Su Xian._

_Benji turned to look at his father to see that he was being minced to pieces by a large warrior._

"_No," shouted Benji, but no one heard him._

_The warrior turned and Benji immediately recognized the face of Zhang Ren._

"_That's impossible. I killed him at Liu Yan's palace."_

_Zhang Ren turned to make for the teenage boy, but the kid was already gone._

"_This is just a dream isn't it," said Benji._

"Yeah, must have been one heck of a nightmare if you ask me." Sun Tzu was standing near the end of Su Benji's bed.

Benji awoke from his dream, and opened his eyes to see the face of his blood brother, Sun Tzu.

"I was starting to wonder if you would ever wake up," said a grinning Sun Tzu.

"What time is it?" Benji rubbed his head trying to rid himself of that terrible dream.

"Why it's just past the third watch."

"What! And you didn't wake me up before that?" Su Benji rolled out of his bed.

"I was becoming quite interested with your dream. Please, tell me who that young boy you kept muttering about was."

"I honestly don't know." Su Benji made to grab his armor which was hanging on a nearby peg.

"Was it you. I mean at a younger age?"

"No, he was much smaller than I was at that age, and he had a sword that had the words, "Thou shalt not perish", engraved on the blade."

"Yes that is interesting, but these matters will have to wait for the moment," said Sun Tzu with increasing excitement, "There is an envoy from the regional lord, Cao Cao, waiting for you."

"Why do you always avoid telling me these things right away?" Benji began to run out the door.

"It makes my day a lot more interesting," smiled Sun Tzu as he quickly followed behind Benji.

--------------------------------------

"Presenting, the great hero of our times, lord Su Benji."

Benji prostrated himself before the messenger of Cao Cao, and then seated himself on his extravagant chair. Benji hated to be considered a hero already. He had yet to even conquer a small piece of China, and the people in the Jing province already hailed him with great prestige.

"_Not until the whole world knows the name of Su Benji will I truly agree with the people's title that was thrown upon me."_

The messenger in turn bowed before Benji and then began to read the edict that would eventually change all of China.

"Lord Su Benji, style Sunzi, I, Cao Cao, bring before you today a call to bear arms against a ruthless tyrant. Cao and his confederates proclaim to the realm their loyalist cause. Dong Zhuo, violator of Heaven and earth, has destroyed the dynasty and murdered the emperor, dishonored the palace's forbidden quarters, and grievously injured the common people. The crimes of this ruthless man mount high. Now we have in hand a secret decree from the Emperor. On which authority we are summoning troops to our cause. We vow to destroy the evil tyrant, Dong Zhou, and to save the Han dynasty and its people from an almost certain doom. Let no one hesitate in acting with this proclamation."

The messenger finished reading the document, and waited hesitantly for Benji's answer.

Benji was unmoved by the proclamation.

_The Emperor would never be brave enough to send out a secret decree. Cao Cao has forged one to summon the lord's to save his own pride. I like him already._

"Has any other forces joined yet?"

Benji turned to look at Sun Tzu, who was now waiting for an answer.

"Yes, Yuan Shao, governor of Bo Hai. He is the descendant of many court officials that have been held in high esteem in the Han court for decades. Sun Jian, the Tiger of Jiang Dong. He is rumored to have slain a tiger that was attacking people at a village, with only his bare hands. Ma Teng, governor of Xi Liang. He is said to have the best cavalry in all the land. Gongsun Zan, governor of Bei Ping. He is most famous for his white riders which consist of a multitude of white horses."

The messenger went on with the names of other lords that have joined the cause such as Yuan Shu, Han Fu, Kong Rong, and Liu Bei.

"What do you say? Will you join us in our cause, Su Benji, governor of Jiang Ling," inquired the messenger.

Sun Tzu didn't miss a beat, as he quickly responded, "Why has Cao Cao requested that we join the coalition?"

The messenger though was ready for this as he opened a pouch on his waist revealing another letter.

He opened this letter and began to read, "Su Benji, is known throughout the Jing province as a warrior that none can best. At the age of fourteen you joined Liu Yan's army, and there you slain Li Yen with a thrust of your spear. You lost not a single troop in the battle against the yellow turbans. At the age of sixteen you defeated the greatest warrior in Liu Yan's army, Zhang Ren."

At the mention of those words, Benji suddenly began to feel a little lightheaded, though he did not show it.

"_How did someone find out about the raid? I painstakingly made every effort to conceal it. Even killing my own troops that fought along beside me."_

The messenger had continued reading the document unaware of Benji's sudden attack of dread.

He finished reading the letter, and stared at Benji waiting for any other questions.

"Who wrote that letter," asked Benji, after he regained his composure.

"A Paige brought this letter to my lord, Cao Cao. As for who wrote it we haven't the faintest clue."

Benji couldn't help, but let out a sigh of relief.

"_They still don't know about the raid, but someone does and I intend to find out whom."_

Without waiting for a word of warning from Sun Tzu, Su Benji quickly answered, "Yes, I, and my troops at Jiang Ling will join the coalition."

Su Benji turned to look at Sun Tzu to see that the great strategist showed a look of disbelieve on his face to Benji's own surprise.

Benji was about to ask why he was so worried when the messenger began to depart.

"Thank you, my lord, for your contribution to the coalition. We hope to meet you at Guan Du within the month," and with that the messenger left.

As soon as the messenger left the room, Sun Tzu blurted out, "What in Heaven's name were you thinking?"

"What are you talking about? I would think that you of all people would be proud for me of joining a coalition for the greater good."

"Yes, for that I am, but didn't you listen to the letter."

"Some of it," for Benji had tuned out the noise of the messenger upon the words of Zhang Ren's death.

"Just as I thought. Benji the only reason they want you to join the coalition is to defeat Dong Zhou's greatest warriors."

"So what, I have defeated all that have challenged me thus far."

"Listen, please listen. These warriors aren't like the others, they are the best of the best the land will ever have to offer in a long time."

"Tell me the names already," Benji said impatiently.

"Hua Xiong, dragon of the capital, he is said to match the strength of a thousand men. Lu Bu, who with his faithful steed, Red Hare, are said to be the best of men and horses. His strength is said to match that of an army of ten thousand. "Sun Tzu stared intently at Su Benji.

"And that is who I am to be scared of?"

"If you would let me finish," replied Sun Tzu irritably. "The warrior that you should be wary of is the very one that wrote the letter. As modest as the warrior sounded in the letter, he is the one that can best Lu Bu and Hua Xiong as easily as you can."

"What did the letter say about the warrior?" Su Benji rose from his seat.

"If only you would have listened," replied Sun Tzu.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Su Ru, assemble an army!" Su Benji ran back and forth yelling commands to his officers.

"When, brother?" Su Ru appeared from behind a pile of armor that was being distributed to the soldiers.

"Five minutes ago!" Su Benji exited the barracks, and entered the stalls in which hundreds of horses were being kept.

The floor was covered in straw and manure piles, which just plain reeked.

Benji didn't notice, as he quickly strolled past horse after horse until arriving at a white stallion, whose eyes were circled by a ring of black.

"Su Foe, get the cavalry mounted and fitted for battle!"

"What's the urgency?" Su Foe suddenly appeared from behind the brilliant white stallion as he occasionally loved to groom this particular horse.

Benji didn't mind that one bit, in fact he was glad.

"I, in my foolishness, signed our forces up to join the coalition against Dong Zhou to save the emperor." Benji crossed to the rear of the stallion that Su Foe was tending to. That turned out to be a mistake as the horse decided to try and kick Benji as he passed by.

Su Benji though was ready for it as he quickly rolled out of the way.

"Don't you think that's getting a little old, Brutus?"

Brutus, was of course, Benji's trusted steed. Brutus had been deemed an untamable horse, and was about to be butchered by his previous owner when Benji happened to see Brutus. After an exchange of money, Brutus was reluctant enough to allow Benji to saddle him, to the amazement of the now rich, former owner. Benji rode the horse all the way back to his palace. Ever since Benji acquired him, none have seen the two separated during a battle.

Benji walked back to the horse, this time staying far enough away from the painful hooves.

Benji accidentally ran into a soldier though, sending him flying into a pile of manure.

Benji couldn't help but laugh, the soldier though didn't find it funny, so Benji quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I did not see you. Here let me help you to your feet."

"I can get up on my own!" The soldier pushed himself up onto his feet, and walked away in a furious manner.

Benji decided that it was best not to pester the soldier so he continued his way over to Su Foe.

"He's getting worse and worse at that game each time isn't he?" Su Foe was brushing Brutus's yellow mane.

"He must be getting old." Benji said this while looking at Brutus, who in return let out a loud discontented cry that echoed throughout the stall.

This was another reason that Benji had liked the horse. Upon entering a battle Brutus would sound a cry that was heard far and wide. This cry, as the enemy army would eventually figure out, meant that Benji had arrived. It was quite fun watching the meager soldiers scatter before the mere presence of Benji and his steed.

Su Foe stopped brushing the horse. "When should we leave, and to where?"

"As soon as possible. As for where, we are suppose to go to Guan Du, where the coalition forces will be gathering. Since though our force will undoubtedly take weeks to arrive, we will head to Tiger Trap Pass near Hulao Gate."

"What about the others in the coalition?" Su Foe was clearly confused now. "Won't they be waiting for us?"

"No, I have been informed just now that Yuan Shao has been appointed leader of the coalition. He will not wait more than a week for us. Undoubtedly he and the others will head for Tiger Trap Pass. That is where we will meet them as well." Benji began to leave the stall.

"Brother, you truly are a genius." Su Foe said this with confidence, and to himself. "None can hope to oppose you."

------------------------------------------

Another round of lightning struck over the valley.

Men ran back and forth as the rain pelted off of their armored helmets as officers shouted orders for last minute preparations.

One soldier, fell face first in the thick mud, but he was helped to his feet by two other soldiers.

Unfortunately the soldier was unaware of the shard of parchment that had fallen out of his breast pocket. Someone else was.

Sun Tzu noticed the piece of paper though as it fell from the soldiers safety of the pocket. He watched as the paper landed about a yard or so from the fallen soldier. He waited until the soldier left to file into ranks before he made to move to get the parchment.

Bending down he quickly picked it up, and staying crouched with his hood drawn over his face, as not to draw any unwelcome attention to himself, he began to read it.

"_I am intrusting you, my son, to watch for any weaknesses in Su Benji. Everyone person has a weakness, and Su Benji is no exception to this. Report everything that you have learned to me about Su Benji, but do not waste my time with reports of the coalition's movements. I do not want their purpose to fail, for I hate Dong Zhou as much as anyone else does. I will undoubtedly meet Benji in battle, and if I fa-"_

The letter's ink, much to Sun Tzu's horror, was beginning to run due to the rain, and it was becoming more difficult to read with each passing word.

"_You will t------------ army. Do not fail me, my -------. For I, -------------------, will triumphant over the evil that plagues this -------._

Sun Tzu couldn't make out the name after the word I. "Well, isn't that just my luck."

Sun Tzu crumpled up the letter and stuffed it back into the mud.

It wasn't worth showing Su Benji. If anything all it did was confirm their suspicions.

There was a spy among the ranks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hold the line!"

Soldiers from the vanguard quickly left to reinforce the line that was under siege by Hua Xiong.

Yuan Shao couldn't believe that the coalition was already having this much trouble, and they hadn't even reached the pass yet.

The coalition forces had just left Guan Du, and were on their way to Tiger Trap Pass when they encountered Hua Xiong's army. Of course now Yuan Shao was beginning to wish that they had waited for Su Benji and his army to arrive.

"Mi, lord, Hua Xiong has just slain Yu She!" A messenger was suddenly by Yuan Shao's side.

"Damn't." Yuan Shao was beginning to panic. "Who else will try their luck with Hua Xiong?"

"I, Pan Feng will gladly defeat the Tiger of the Capital." A warrior wielding a great axe appeared from the ranks of Han Fu's army.

Pan Feng left on a horse to do battle with Hua Xiong, but within a few moments word arrived that Pan Feng had been slain.

Yuan Shao was beginning to run out of options. "Is there no one that can defeat Hua Xiong? If only my top generals, Wen Chou and Yan Liang were here."

"I will bring back the head of Hua Xiong."

Yuan Shao, and the officers around him, turned to look at the speaker.

He was over six feet tall, with a great black beard flowing from his cheeks. His eyes stared directly at the officers with confidence.

"Who is this warrior?" Yuan Shao was furious for this warrior to talk out of place.

Gongsun Zan quickly responded, "He is Guan Yu of Liu Bei's force."

"What is his position?"

"He is a mounted archer," was the reply from Gongsun Zan.

"What nonsense it this? Have we no real warriors among us?" Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao's brother, said angrily.

Cao Cao, who was among the officers present, was beginning to be annoyed by the Yuan's insolence. "The warrior has made his boast. Let him deal with his task. I mean what do we have to lose?"

"Fine then!" Yuan Shao was becoming tired of this argument. "Let the warrior go, and hopefully he will defeat Hua Xiong, once and for all."

Guan Yu left the group to assemble his armor, but Cao Cao hastily followed him.

"Please, my lord, accept this draft of wine before you go to battle." For Cao Cao was carrying with him a cup of the best wine available.

"I will come back to drink the wine before it has even cooled, and thank you for your kindness." Guan Yu mounted his steed, and rode off to the front lines.

"That warrior is most remarkable," Cao exclaimed with great excitement. "I most have him in my force."

Guan Yu rode forward on his horse to the main battle, where Hua Xiong was mercifully cutting his way through the coalition forces.

"You there, I, Guan Yu, challenge you to a duel." Guan Yu rode forward to meet Hua Xiong's horse.

"You will die just like the others imbeciles!" Hua Xiong urged his mount on to clash with Guan Yu.

As if on cue, the war drums of Dong Zhou's army began to sound off as the two warriors faced in battle.

On the first pass, Guan Yu ducked Hua Xiong's spear, and countered with a jab with his own weapon, Blue Dragon. Guan Yu's blade met Hua Xiong's throat, and sliced through it just as easily as tearing a piece of paper. Hua Xiong's head was sheared cleanly above the shoulders, and it fell from his body as his horse still ran on.

With the victor found, Guan Yu demounted to pick up Hua Xiong's head by the hair. Guan Yu then remounted, and made his way back to the main camp where his still hot wine waited. Upon hearing the news of this victory the coalition pushed back the enemy force, and began the march to Tiger Trap Pass.

A much more deadly force waited for them there. Lu Bu was rumored to be the leader of the force situated near HuLao gate, but the soldiers didn't care. With Guan Yu on their side, who would dare oppose the coalition now?

Guan Yu was beginning to earn a name in history. Su Benji was fading just as easily as he had risen, but not for long.

-------------------------------------------------------------

If one could listen closely enough, you could hear the sounds of drums and horses

_The coalition is coming._

The warrior is situated high above in the ramparts of HuLao gate.

Infantry and archers were being assembled by the general, Lu Bu.

"_Lu Bu is a bastard of all men,"_ thought the warrior. He wasn't quite gutsy enough to tell this to Lu Bu face to face. Even though he could easily kill Lu Bu, it still wouldn't help with his plans for his adversary.

_Yes, the time for you to die is coming._

Now the warrior could see from his perch the torches of the coalition about five miles away.

The warrior didn't know though, that the warrior he was looking for, wasn't among their army.

The warrior had trained for months, planning the rise of Dong Zhou, helping Cao Cao to start a coalition, and advising the coalition to seek Su Benji.

It has all led up to this moment.

"Su Benji, I will show you who the true son of Su Xian is!" The warrior yelled this for all to be heard.

The soldiers being assembled didn't mind. Over the months, they had grown use to the warrior's rambling on about Su Benji.

The battlefield is set, but will Su Benji arrive?

----------------------------------------------------

"Hulao gate lies before us, Yuan Shao. Shall we attack?" Cao Cao awaited the answer.

Yuan Shao debated this in his head, "_Should we attack or not? Hua Xiong proved a tough challenge already for the coalition, and Lu Bu is still waiting at HuLao. Yet now, with the discovered talents of Guan Yu, there will be no warrior that Dong Zhou, has that can defeat us."_

With his mind made up, Yuan Shao ordered the attack upon HuLao.

With Sun Jian attacking from the east, Liu Bei attacking from the west, Cao Cao from the north, and the other armies through the middle, HuLao gate would soon be fully under siege.

-------------------------------------------------------

Lu Bu swung his blade around slaying Bao Zhong with one pass.

Bao Zhong's lifeless body, crumpled to the ground, as it fell from his horse.

"Who else wishes to die?" Lu Bu ran back and forth on his horse, taunting the coalition forces.

Finally a warrior was brave enough to finally accept the challenge.

"I, Wu Anguo, will have a go."

Lu Bu and Wu Anguo urged their mounts on, their blades meeting a dozen times or so. Suddenly though Lu Bu feinted at Wu Anguo cutting off his hand.

Luckily though Han Fu arrived to push back Lu Bu's forces in time to rescue Wu Anguo.

"Worthless scum! Is this all the coalition has to offer?" Lu Bu threw challenges left and right to the armies of the coalition, but no one accepted, until he passed Liu Bei's army.

"Stop right there, you worthless dog!"

"Who dares to make fun of me?" Lu Bu turned to face the speaker who was well over six feet, with a body built like a tiger. His face was covered with a beard of whiskers.

"I, Zhang Fei, of Yan will gladly kill you!"

With that Lu Bu and Zhang Fei clashed back and forth upon their horses. Lu Bu quickly began to gain an advantage though after fifty bouts as he showed no sign of fatigue.

Guan Yu, seeing his bond brother in trouble, quickly rushed to engage Lu Bu as well.

Still though, Lu Bu could not be beaten, so Liu Bei joined in as well. The three fighters formed a triangle and Lu Bu was caught in the middle.

Lu Bu, seeing that he was in trouble, made a desperate dash through Liu Bei's side, breaking through the three fighters.

Lu Bu had begun to retreat to HuLao, when Yuan Shao ordered the immediate siege of the gate.

A ram was brought forth from the center of the army to be used to destroy the gate.

"All units, protect the ram!" Yuan Shao directed the units of the other armies to guard the ram with their lives.

The ram reached HuLao's gate, surviving countless bombardments from arrows and stones. A team of a two dozen men quickly assembled to pull the ram back to swing at the gate.

Before it could be done though, the gates of HuLao opened on their own.

The soldiers near the gate never stood a chance as an army was led out of HuLao, and the coalition caught unprepared, quickly suffered heavy losses.

An unknown warrior led the army from HuLao, with supreme leadership, as he assembled his forces into a phalanx position in front of the gate.

Guan Yu, seeing this move, decided to challenge the warrior, "You, there fight me, and spare my troops from a worthless death."

The warrior was not intrigued, but decided to use this as a warm-up for Su Benji.

"Die," was all that he simply said.

The two warriors rode their horses forward at high speed. Both of their weapons struck each other with equal force as both were thrown, from their mounts, into the dirt.

The warrior landed nimbly on his feet, and quickly rushed Guan Yu. Guan Yu, who wasn't quite as graceful, never stood a chance as the warrior quickly pressed his blade at Guan Yu's throat.

With sheer luck, Guan Yu was able to grab the hilt of the sword, pushing it away from his throat.

The warrior though was too strong, and Guan Yu was quickly losing his grip.

The sword moved closer and closer to Guan Yu's throat, and when Guan Yu thought for sure he was dead, there was a sudden piercing scream, that echoed throughout the valley.

The warrior forgot all about Guan Yu, who used this to his advantage, as he quickly got up and ran back to his force.

All fighting in the valley began to die down, as all eyes turned to the source of the noise.

The scream had come from a horse, upon which there was a rider, on top of a nearby hill.

All watched as the horse reared up on its' hind legs, and issued another scream, this time though it wasn't quite as powerful. With that though, the rider urged his mount on, and suddenly the whole surrounding hillside was covered with soldiers as they charged to HuLao and its defenders.

The warrior, that had been battling Guan Yu, just stood and smiled.

Su Benji had arrived.

----------------------------------------

Benji looked down at the insignificant specks at the bottom of the valley as Brutus let out another cry.

Brutus reared up on his hind legs, much to Benji's surprise.

"Brutus you must be quite anxious for this battle," Benji whispered this in the horse's ear.

With that, Brutus took off for the battle below.

The rest of Benji's army quickly followed behind. A cavalry unit was led by Su Foe, an elite infantry force was led by Su Ru, and Sun Tzu was in control of a unit that used Su Xian's deadly crossbow as their weapon of choice.

The other armies, finally snapping out of their stupor, began to engage each other near the middle of the valley. For the warrior had pushed the coalition back from the gate itself.

The warrior watched as Su Benji arrived at the bottom of the hill.

The warrior had stationed there ten whole units of men, but he watched in dismay as Benji and his steed easily broke through the line of soldiers.

It didn't help that Sun Tzu and his crossbow soldiers had taken position on a ridge, and had begun to bombard the surrounding soldiers below.

Benji's blade was swinging back and forth, as the flames engraved on Death's Hand begun to glow with each fresh body it reaped.

The warrior couldn't stand to wait any longer as he shouted, "Su Benji, I challenge you!"

Benji though ignored the petty plea for a challenge.

"Su Benji, murderer of Liu Yan, I challenge you!" The warrior was sure that this would get the attention of Su Benji.

"Who dares to issue such lies?" Benji cried out to the warrior.

"Fight me, and you will soon find out," came the reply from a warrior, clad in white.

Benji rode Brutus forward to meet the warrior.

"Who are you, and how do you know about the raid at Liu Yan's palace?" Benji said this last bit in a much quieter voice.

"Do not worry about the raid. Only I know about what took place there, and I'm forever grateful for you to kill the scum Liu Yan. As for my name, it is Schnider Huan. I use to go by the name of Su Huan, but due to my...our fathers death, I disposed of my given name," the warrior, Schnider Huan continued on without allowing Su Benji for any questions, "Yes my father is Su Xian, who is also your father, but you shouldn't have the right to call him that. For where were you when the estate was under attack from Liu Yan's forces? Where were you when Zhang Ren brutally killed our mother and father? You were with Liu Yan's forces, fighting for him."

Su Benji was becoming flustered with Schnider Huan's shortsightedness, "But I was at the capital when this all happened. I only learned of our father's death when I returned to Jiang Ling. I killed Liu Yan and Zhang Ren, avenging my father."

"Silence!" Schnider Huan couldn't believe he actually allowed himself to talk to the faithless heathen, and with that he picked up his spear.

Benji, seeing that Schnider Huan would only listen to weapons, raised his sword, Death's Hand, and led Brutus forward.

Schnider Huan urged his own horse forward, and when the two warriors were no more than a hands width apart, he jabbed his spear at Benji, completely missing him.

Benji though suddenly realized that he hadn't missed as Brutus tumbled to the ground, throwing Benji off the harness.

Benji picked himself off the ground, after checking to see if there were any broken bones. There wasn't, luckily, for any normal person would have definitely suffered a shattered rib cage.

He then turned to see Brutus lying on the ground, not moving at all.

The reason soon became apparent as the spear that Schinder Huan had used, was lodged in Brutus's lungs.

"Brutus," Benji called softly.

The horse did not move, neither did it reply.

Benji staggered over to the body of his former steed. He then kneeled down next to the horse's head.

Benji, who hadn't shed a single tear for his father, began to mourn bitterly for the death of a horse.

Of course though this was no ordinary horse to Su Benji. To him it was probably the greatest horse, even better then Red Hare that would ever come into this world.

Memories began to recur in Benji's mind, a moment that Benji had been surrounded by a fire attack with no apparent escape route. Brutus though had burst through the flames, with his mane on fire, to rescue Benji from a certain death. Another memory when Brutus and he had been playing the same game that they had played before they left for the coalition operation. Brutus had just kicked Benji squarely in the stomach, sending him flying into a pile of manure. It took weeks to get rid of the smell. A time when...

Unfortunately, Schnider Huan didn't have time for Su Benji's recollections.

Schinder Huan had watched Benji pick himself off of the ground, unscathed, but confused. Benji had then turned to stare upon the fallen horse he had been riding, and much to Schinder Huan's delight, he began to fall into a stupor. The fool then pitifully walked over to the dead body of the horse. What Benji did next completely amazed, Schinder Huan, for he began to cry.

"_It appears that my son was correct in the weakness that Benji has."_

Huan leapt from his horse, unsheathing his dragon crested blade.

Avoiding other soldier's fights, he made his way towards Benji's kneeled form.

Without even a glance from Su Benji, Schinder Huan closed his eyes, brought up his sword, and quickly brought it down upon Benji's head. He was rewarded with a fresh spray of blood. Huan then opened his eyes to find, not the body of Su Benji, but some other warrior that had thrown himself in front of his blade.

Benji awoke from his stupor, to find Su Ru standing in front of him. Something was wrong with Su Ru, he was missing his head. Su Ru's body fell to the ground, as the nerves began to lose their signal from the brain.

Benji then saw Schinder Huan, standing with his blade dripping with freshly spilled blood.

"You will pay for this!" With that Benji leapt to his feet, grabbing his sword, and charged Schinder Huan.

Schinder Huan was caught off guard from Su Benji's sudden shift of power. Huan raised his sword to ward off Benji's attacks. He managed to deflect each blow, but his strength was quickly wavering. Su Benji's wasn't.

Benji pushed Schinder Huan back to the entrance of HuLao gate, where many of the defending troops were beginning to flee from the coalition forces.

Lu Bu was among them, but then, he stopped when he saw Su Benji fighting Schnider Huan. Lu Bu then turned his steed, Red Hare, around to confront Benji.

Schnider Huan was now fully on the run, being unable to defeat Su Benji at the present.

Benji though, in his rage, had just picked up a spear to hurl at Schinder Huan. Benji aimed the spear just a little ahead of Huan, so as to lead him. He then threw it with all of his might, unaware of Lu Bu who was barely a foot away from him.

The spear left Benji's hands, and inflicted Lu Bu in the chest, dropping the mighty warrior from his steed Red Hare.

Lu Bu was dead before his body even reached the ground.

Benji didn't care, as he quickly pursued Schnider Huan, who was now on a horse riding off with the rest of Dong Zhou's defeated army.

Benji kept running, but Sun Tzu appeared on a horse, blocking Benji's path.

"Benji, stop right now!"

"I'll kill him," Benji was furious.

"Benji, you'll run into a trap and die," Sun Tzu was trying to reason with Su Benji. "Don't let Su Ru's death be in vain. He died to save you, so that you may continue on your quest to rule China."

Benji was beginning to calm down, as he was able to think again. Sun Tzu was right, as much as he hated to admit it. "Fine, but I will kill the bastard, eventually."

"Yes, perhaps in the near future, but my lord you have just defeated someone far more important in the eyes of others," Sun Tzu said this while staring at the body of Lu Bu, which was lying nearby.

"I did," Benji couldn't remember anything during his fit of rage.

"My lord, you killed Lu Bu!"

With that the coalition was able to finally take HuLao gate, thanks to Su Benji's army from Jiang Ling. Unfortunately, Su Benji lost far too much during the battle, with the death of his horse, Brutus, and his brother, Su Ru. Benji, in his rage against Schinder Huan, killed Lu Bu, unintentionally.

This brought the warrior from Jing to higher fame, as word began to spread of Su Benji throughout China. He soon was becoming known as Su Benji, God of War.

The coalition began the march to Lou Yang, the capital of China. There a grisly would be found.


	4. Chapter 4: Ambush Equals Death

"Those who speak know nothing  
Those who know are silent."  
These words, as I am told,  
Were spoken by Lao-tzü.  
If we are to believe that Lao-tzü  
Was himself one who knew,  
How comes it that he wrote a book  
Of five thousand words?"-(Po Chü-i)

_8:33 p.m_.

Buildings were toppled everywhere.

Rocks were strewn onto the roads, and carts and wagons were carelessly turned over.

The air was thick with smoke, making it quite hard to breathe and to see the full moon that waned overhead. A fire still raged further on, deeper within the city, its probable source would most likely be the imperial palace.

Clothing and other lesser belongings were thrown carelessly onto the street by the inhabitants fleeing the destruction.

Bodies of people that had put up a fight to stop the destruction lined the roads. Most of the dead were that of commoners, but sometimes a dead soldier or two would be found among the commoners, from which whom their deaths most likely resulted from.

Ironically, amidst all of the destruction and death, there was an intact sign surrounded by still blooming flowers. The sign simply read, "Welcome to the capital of China, Lou Yang."

Su Benji was staring at the sign with bitter resentment. "May the gods curse you into damnation for all eternity, Dong Zhou." Su Benji then remembered the heathen, Schnider Huan. "You can join the traitor to the Han as well, Schinder Huan."

Coalition soldiers continued to file past Su Benji's position, as they made their way into the capital grounds to assess damage. As well as to see if Dong Zhou had truly retreated from the once glamorous capital.

Benji wondered if the warrior, Schnider Huan had left as well. The mere thought of him brought back terrible memories of death. First his horse, Brutus had been killed by a spear in the lungs.

Then, thanks to Benji's own carelessness, Su Ru had died saving Benji's life.

Benji's body shuttered at the mere thought of Su Ru's headless body standing before Benji.

"_I will avenge you, Su Ru."_

Benji turned away from the sign, and made his way back to his new horse, the coalition soldiers giving him a wide berth, for they had never seen a warrior quite like Benji. Benji's own soldiers were still loitering around on a nearby grassy knob, recovering from the past battle.

Reaching the other side of the dirt road, Benji found his red horse eating nearby dandelions.

Benji walked over to a nearby tree that had a beautiful saddle hanging from a branch. The saddle had, engraved into it, jewels and crystals of all colors. The most distinguishing feature, being a horse, made of red rubies.

He grabbed the saddle from its perch, and looked it over, to check if any soldiers had tried to steal any of the precious gems.

Luckily for them, they hadn't.

Benji hated thieves the most, being the way that they stalk around and steal for their own personal gain. Most of the thieves spend their gaining on beer and women. A whole month's work could be gone in just one night.

To Su Benji, it wasn't worth it. Well, maybe for the women, though Benji just simply had found no time to look for a suitable spouse, with all of the fighting.

Benji had promised himself that when the coalition operation was over and he returned to Jiang Ling, that he would look for a suitable wife.

Returning his attention back to the horse, which had formally belonged to Lu Bu, Benji casually walked over to it, and placed the jewel encrusted saddle upon the horse's back.

The horse didn't seem to mind, as it continued to eat the pretty, yellow flowers.

Benji strapped on the harness, letting out a sigh. "You are a great horse, but no horse can ever replace Brutus," Benji pulled himself onto the horse's saddle, recalling the saying that Sun Tzu had told him. "Lu Bu among men, Red Hare among horses. Let's hope this holds true for you, for it lied about your previous master."

Benji's new horse, Red Hare, stopped eating at that, and let out a ferocious cry that rang throughout the surrounding hills.

It wasn't quite as powerful as Brutus's cry, but Benji decided that it would do for now.

Besides, dwelling on the past will get you killed in this era of chaos.

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_10:12 p.m._

Amidst the dark, a group of soldiers could be seen covering the knob located just above the destroyed city of Lou Yang. Most of the soldiers were lying down, sleeping. Others though were recovering from their recent injuries. A few mourned over the recent deaths of their fellow soldiers, though not many of Su Benji's soldiers had been killed in the recent battle at HuLao gate.

At the very top of the knob was a group of about five hundred soldiers, who had been captured in the recent battle. Surrounding the prisoners of war, were a hundred armed guards. A few of the prisoners had been tied up with bonds for their excessive resistance.

Sun Tzu was busy convincing the captured soldiers, whose hands were tied up with bonds, to join the army of Su Benji.

At the moment, many were ready and willing to join, but still one must always look for deception.

"What do you soldiers think about Su Benji," Sun Tzu began to question about the soldier's views on Su Benji.

A soldier, wearing gray armor, stood up and eagerly answered, "Su Benji is truly the greatest warrior I've ever seen in my many years of combat." The soldier then started to rally other soldiers to give their own personal views.

A peasant soldier responded, "None can oppose Su Benji, including the bastard Dong Zhou who burned our city to the ground." He then shifted his gaze to the destroyed city below the hill. "Su Benji will make Dong Zhou pay for his crimes!"

At that the other soldiers stood and began to chant, "Su Benji! Su Benji! Su Benji!"

Sun Tzu called out, "And what of Su Benji's ethnicity?"

The chanting ceased at that.

A soldier though was unmoved by this, "It does not matter if he is not of one us."

The soldiers turned to see a warrior that was dressed in gray armor, with a red sash. Upon his head was a simple farmer's hat with a white feather. He was no more than five and a half feet tall.

The warrior was unnerved by this and continued, "Su Benji has accomplished more in just seventeen years, then we will in a lifetime."

Sun Tzu was pleased with the warrior's commitment. "Who speaks?"

"I am Zhang Liao, a warrior who was recently employed under the service of the Han court's imperial guard," the soldier began to grimace. "When Dong Zhou took the capital, I was forced to serve under him. I was in command of a sub-unit at HuLao gate when your forces came and defeated us."

"What a waste of talent, for you, Zhang Liao, will surely carry your name to new heights in our army...," Sun Tzu stopped hesitantly, for he finally noticed Su Benji standing right next to him.

Su Benji had been listening from a distance the whole time, but at the warrior's boast, he decided to make his presence known.

"Tell me warrior," Su Benji was unimpressed with Zhang Liao's flattery, "What real traits do you have in the battlefield?"

Zhang Liao, wasn't scared as he had been trained by some of the greatest tacticians, and fighters, in the land. "I possess a flair for ambushing the enemy, and I am quite skilled with the scimitar. Many hapless victims have fallen to its blade."

Su Benji was still unimpressed with Zhang Liao, "Untie his bonds!"

Two soldiers that were watching the captives, quickly ran over to Zhang Liao, and sliced his bonds with a knife.

Benji continued, "If you are as skilled with your weapon as you say you are, show me!"

Zhang Liao stretched his arms, and walked over to where a pile of weapons had been placed. The weapons had belonged to the captured soldiers, including Zhang Liao, who found his weapon on top of the four foot tall pile. Zhang Liao wielded the scimitar by the hilt, checking for the engraved pouncing tiger on the blade. The golden tiger flared brightly in the night, this was indeed Zhang Liao's weapon.

Zhang Liao then grabbed a nine foot spear, and hurled it forty yards towards the bottom of the hill, the spear sticking in the ground with the shaft up.

"Su Benji, will you kindly stand by that spear's shaft."

Sun Tzu was wondering if Su Benji would agree to the request, but was amazed to find Benji taking off his helmet, and heading for the spear.

Benji reached the spear, and faced the warrior with his head resting against the spear's wooden shaft. He then called out, "Like this?"

Zhang Liao responded with a grin, "Yes, perfect."

He then hurled his scimitar, blade swinging to and fro, towards Su Benji's position.

In the night the soldiers could only see the blade when it caught the moon's beams, as it revolved constantly, showing a sliver of silver.

Benji meanwhile stood, unmoved, and not the least bit nervous. Well maybe just a little, as the scimitar's sharp tip suddenly appeared right in front of his head.

Benji closed his eyes for a split second, waiting for the darkness, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see the shaft of a weapon dangling in front of him.

Looking up, Benji saw that the scimitar had lodged itself perfectly into the spear's shaft, just millimeters above Benji's head.

Zhang Liao knew Benji was stunned so he shouted out, "What do you say now, warrior of Jing?"

Benji shouted, excitedly, back, "Welcome to our army!"

He stared more intently at the scimitar's blade tip embedded in the wooden shaft, to find a few strands of black hair. The strands of hair had been neatly sliced by the passing scimitar.

----------------------------------------------

_11:19 p.m._

Benji walked the dirt path, wondering where it led. The path, so far, had led him through a peaceful wooded area, full of trees and the occasional bats.

Rounding the corner, Benji finally saw the end of the trail, stopping near a cliff.

Benji headed towards the cliff, looking down it and then up at the serene sky. The cliff overlooked a river, and provided a nice few of the stars.

Benji stared at the shining stars. "I wonder which one of those stars is mine, and when will it ever fall down to this world?"

"Have you forgotten your astronomy?"

Benji turned to find Sun Tzu, staring at the stars himself. "What are you doing still up?"

Sun Tzu continued to stare at the stars. "I should be asking you the same question?"

Benji said, "I couldn't sleep?"

Benji couldn't help but get over the fact that he actually wasn't a true Chinese Han. "Sun Tzu, do you think that the soldiers care about my ethnicity?"

Sun Tzu now turned to face Benji. "My lord, the soldier's respect for you in combat is beyond your own comprehension. I know for a fact that all of them would gladly lay down their lives for you. Most people do not care about your coming to this land, but it may prove a difficult thing when the time comes for you to become emperor."

Benji replied, "Sun Tzu I'm not even close yet to becoming emperor. Besides, I want to rule the world not just China."

Sun Tzu smiled at that, "Fine then we'll have one of your future sons rule each land, so that the name of the Su is well known."

Benji didn't say anything.

Sun Tzu taking the hint, quickly changed the topic. "Benji, you know, you have yet to tell me of how you came to be adopted by Su Xian."

Benji sighed, "Now Sun Tzu, it is a long story, and I know hardly anything of it. Su Xian only told me that my real family was traveling from the west with a caravan. They were on a quest for spices to bring back to their land, which I don't know where it is, when they became under attack by bandits. I was told that Su Xian, found me among the carnage the very next day. He pulled me out from under a dead warrior that had a black falcon engraved onto his shield and garments. Su Xian said he had probably died protecting me from the bandits. I was only a month old at the time."

Sun Tzu shifted uneasily, "I'm sorry Benji, for that incident, but maybe it was the will of the heavens for you to come to this land and fight for it."

Benji laughed, "You are most likely right. Besides, China is my true home, I mean I was practically raised here."

Benji turned his gaze to downward at the nearby river. "From up here the mighty Ch'iang looks like a sliver of sparkling blue."

"That it does, but always remember this Benji, things always look smaller from a distance," Sun Tzu started to walk back down the path.

"Where are you going?"

Sun Tzu continued walking. "We have just been given permission to enter the city of Lou Yang, and the army is waiting to march."

Benji was startled, "And why, again, didn't you tell me this right away?"

Sun Tzu didn't answer so Benji ran down the dirt path, to catch up with him.

Together they headed back to camp.

-------------------------------------------

_12:02 a.m._

Cao Cao didn't care what the coalition thought about his plans.

No, he would be the one to surely defeat Dong Zhou during their retreat from Lou Yang.

Him, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Li Dian, and Yue Jin, had led ten thousand men from their encampment near Lou Yang, to pursue Dong Zhou's fleeing forces.

Of course Yuan Shao, and the other members were against the move, but all they sought was their own personal gains.

What could they possibly know?

A soldier appeared before Cao Cao, "My lord, we are entering a ravine. Do we keep marching?"

The ravine was very narrow, allowing only a constricted passage for his army to advance through. Cao Cao thought about it, the enemy could be setting up an ambush, but that was most likely due to their sudden retreat. "Yes, keep advancing, I'm sure we are catching up to them."

Cao Cao, and the others, continued their march into the ravine.

They were unaware however of the pair of eyes watching them from the cliffs, above the ravine.

-----------------------------------------------

Schinder Huan watched the soldiers enter the ravine. He easily picked out Cao Cao among them, who was wearing his silver helmet, adorned with a feather.

Just as Li Ru had predicted, the coalition, or at least part of it, had decided to pursue the fleeing forces.

"_Fools, they will all die!"_

Schinder Huan watched the full moon, waiting for the last of the soldiers to enter the ravine. The ravine was only five soldiers wide.

"_The soldiers of the coalition will have a tough time trying to put up a fight in it."_

Schnider Huan's orders though were to simply lead a force through the path, in the ravine that the coalition soldiers entered through.

Turning his attention back to the ravine, he noticed that the last of the soldier's were just leaving the open plains.

Schnider Huan got up from his perch, and headed towards a valley, that had been just beyond the view of the advancing coalition forces.

In the valley were a total of ten thousand mounted cavalry, along with a thousand archers under the command of Dong Zhou's nephew, Guo Si. They had all been positioned there to cut off the line of retreat for the coalition forces after they had entered the ravine.

Schnider Huan grabbed his spear, and walked towards his horse, located at the head of the column of cavalry.

Huan mounted, and then gave the order for the army to advance out of the valley, and into the wastelands that the coalition had first crossed.

The entire column moved as one, towards their destination.

Guo Si though, headed a different direction. He went back to where Schnider Huan was spying on Cao Cao's force, sending his archers to cover the cliffs.

Looking down from the cliffs the archers would have a clear shot at the, soon to be, fleeing enemy.

Bows were drawn, and aimed near the bottom of the ravine. The archers though, held their fire, waiting for the right moment.

Huan continued to lead his cavalry to the opening of the ravine. In a matter of minutes, the ravine's opening was completely surrounded by horsemen.

With Xu Rong, and Li Ru waiting at the other end of the ravine, there was no possible way for Cao Cao to escape.

--------------------------------------------------

Cao Cao, though, did not know of the coming ambush. He also did not know that their only exit had just been cut off by Schnider Huan, and he was unaware of the archers watching them from above, waiting to unleash their barrage.

As Cao Cao's forces began to exit the ravine, they became aware of two things: one, there was about five thousand spearmen charging at them, and two, there was only one safe place to run...back to the ravine!

Cao Cao had just exited the ravine when he noticed the predicament his forces were now in. As one doesn't think properly when under pressure, Cao Cao shouted out, "Everyone retreat back into the ravine!"

He turned his horse around, back towards the ravine, but he was surprised to see the thousand soldiers still in the ravine, being pelted by arrows and rocks alike. Cao Cao looked up at the source of the bombardment, to see a line of archers on the cliff, surrounding the ravine.

"Accursed heavens, do you wish me, Cao Cao, to die now?" Cao Cao turned his horse back, towards the incoming spearmen. _There was no way to escape_!

Cao Cao though suddenly saw a path to flee. Embedded within the cliffs, almost invisible to the naked eye, was a rock path leading out of the valley. It was unguarded, and most likely, it was not noticed by Dong Zhou's ambush parties.

Xiahou Dun, along with Xiahou Yuan, flanked Cao Cao as they retreated towards the hidden path. Ahead of the Xiahou's was Li Dian, and Yue Jin, behind Cao Cao was Cao Ren, and Cao Hong. These officers formed a formidable line of defense, protecting Cao Cao from the enemy spear men.

Soldier after soldier rushed Cao Cao's entourage, but to no avail, as the Xiahou's swords moved gracefully, slaying soldier, after soldier. As Xiahou Yuan was engaging a soldier that was armed with a ten foot spear, he was being led further away from Cao Cao.

The right flank was now open so the enemy did not hesitate to take advantage of it. Four spear men quickly rushed Cao Cao's horse, spearing the horse twice. The horse quickly fell to the ground, throwing Cao Cao from it.

Cao Ren, seeing this, quickly rushed to Cao Cao's aid, who was now surrounded by the four spearmen.

The spearmen aimed their spears at Cao Cao, and threw them all at once. Cao Ren though was on the move. Wielding his sword, he dived in front of Cao Cao, hacking in half, two of the spears, the spears falling harmlessly down to the ground. Cao Ren though, missed the other two spears. This was not good.

Cao Ren cried in agony, as the two spears embedded themselves into his left leg. It was almost comical to see two, ten foot sticks, flailing around, in front of Cao Ren. Too bad, for Cao Ren, the sticks hurt like hell.

Cao Hong quickly arrived, to assist Cao Ren. He downed two of the spearmen with a couple passes of his sword. The other two, who were unarmed, quickly ran off.

Cao Ren gritted his teeth as he removed the two embedded spears with both of his hands. Cao Cao couldn't believe what his uncle had just done for him, "Why did you just do that?"

Cao Ren pulled the spears free, "My lord, I would gladly give my life for you, so that someday you may bring the Cao's to glory."

Cao Cao was happy to have such loyalty among his officers, but there wasn't time for it. "We have to keep moving, the path is right before us."

Indeed the path was just a few yards away, where Li Dian and Yue Jin were forcing a way through the battle, for Cao Cao.

Cao Ren, unfortunately, could barely move his left leg, "My lord, go on without me."

Cao Cao wouldn't have it, "No, you are going. Cao Hong and I will carry you, if it comes to it!"

"No, I will only slow you down," Cao Ren brought himself up, using one of the broken spears as a crutch. "I will survive this battle, and help the soldiers here to retreat."

Cao Cao walked over to Cao Ren, placing his arm on his shoulder, "Cao Ren, you truly are the warrior they say you are."

With that Cao Cao, and Cao Hong ran towards the path that Li Dian and Yue Jin, had made for them. Xiahou Dun, had left to assist Xiahou Yuan, who was now in the thick of the battle.

The party, which only consisted of Li Dian, Yue Jin, Cao Hong, and Cao Cao, made their way up the path. At the top they saw a sight which quickly dampened their spirits. It became apparent why the enemy hadn't guarded the path.

A raging river flowed directly in front of them, blocking their path of escape.

-----------------------------------------------

Schnider Huan charged out of the ravine, along with his cavalry.

Upon finding that Cao Cao was not going to retreat back through the ravine, he had led his cavalry through the ravine. The archers, of course, had stopped their bombardment to let the horsemen through. Every, single enemy, in the ravine, was either dead or seriously wounded.

Huan gave orders for his soldiers to spare none. His soldiers demounted along the way, killing any survivors. They had done this all the way towards the exit of the ravine.

When Huan exited the ravine, he noticed that a small force of coalition soldiers had made it through the spearmen, and were retreating around the ravine, towards the opposite cliffs.

Huan did not see Cao Cao among them, though he did notice a warrior leading them that was limping oddly.

Looking towards the cliffs that led to a river he saw a small band of warriors fighting their way up a path. As they reached the top of the path, Schnider Huan saw something that raised his spirits considerably. One of the warrior's wore a silver helmet with a feather sticking out of the top.

"_Cao Cao."_

Huan urged his horse on to where the band had fled up the path. Huan was followed by only five horsemen. The others went to pursue the force fleeing to the opposite cliffs.

Huan, and the horsemen, rode up the path. Reaching the top, Huan saw the river and the small band of warriors near the edge of it.

Huan shouted to his horsemen, "There is no escape for them," he raised his sword high, "Death to all who oppose us!"

"Yaaaaahhhh!" The other horsemen shouted, and charged towards the enemy warriors.

Schnider Huan waited a few moments before following them.

He couldn't help but think, how well he would be rewarded for this. Maybe he would finally have enough gold to buy his own kingdom.

-------------------------------------------------

Cao Cao, and the others, turned at the sound of the yelling. A group of horsemen were riding towards them. One of them though, held back for a few seconds before following at a leisurely pace.

"We have no choice," said Yue Jin, who began to shed his armor and helmet. "We must swim across the river."

The others, except Cao Hong, quickly followed suit. Yue Jin, Li Dian, and Cao Cao, then waded into the water.

Cao Cao walked into the water, its' icy touch sending a convulsion throughout his body. He continued through the water until it reached his waist. Then he realized that Cao Hong wasn't following them. He turned to see him still standing near the banks, "Cao Hong, what in heaven's name are you doing?"

Cao Hong replied, "The enemy will be upon us before we get halfway across the river. I will stay and give you some well-needed time."

Cao Cao couldn't bare to lose a family member, "Don't be absurd. We can make it across in time." Cao Cao turned his gaze towards the advancing horsemen, to see a dozen archers appear on top of the path from the cliffs. He now knew that time was something he truly needed.

Cao Hong noticed Cao Cao hesitating in the waters, "My lord, the world can do without a Cao Hong, but without a Cao Cao, I shudder to think of it."

The touching words of Cao Hong motivated Cao Cao, as he headed into the deep part of the river, following Li Dian and Yue Jin who had both been swept downstream by the current. "Good-bye, my uncle," he shouted.

The river's current quickly took Cao Cao away from Cao Hong. Cao Cao gave one last look at Cao Hong, now just a tiny black speck in the night. He quickly lost sight of him though as he rounded a bend in the river.

It would be the last Cao Cao would ever see of his beloved uncle.

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Meanwhile, back on shore, Cao Hong turned to face the coming horsemen. He unsheathed his sword, _"I have no regrets."_

The lead horseman was almost upon him.

Cao Hong positioned himself into a standard martial form, taught to him by his mentor. He placed his feet shoulder width apart, with the right foot in front, facing the enemy. He then brought his sword up. Placing his left arm out in front, he now formed a right angle between sword and arm. He began to meditate. This is the famed style of _Jian,_ the most commonly used.

The lead horsemen brought up his spear, throwing it at Hong, but Hong in his meditated trance, was ready. He leapt into the air, clearing the spear's projected path.

The soldier that had thrown the spear, watched as Hong did a forward flip in the air, avoiding the spear and propelling forward. As well as the soldier had been trained in the arts of riding, he was unable to stop his horse in time.

Hong reached with his right arm, blade first, towards the mounted soldier. The sharp blade penetrated through the soldier's sash, and he fell from his horse in a spray of blood.

Hong landed, smoothly onto the horse's saddle, now taking the horse as his own. The battle was, for the most part, now evenly matched with Cao Hong on a horse.

The four remaining horsemen formed a circle around Cao Hong. He had to turn constantly just to keep an eye on the four.

Hong shouted, so as to provoke them, "Who wishes to die first?"

He heard a yell, and the sound of hooves beating from behind. Without even turning his head, he brought up his sword, turning it so the blade faced behind him, and jabbed back. He instantly felt the blade work its way through flesh and bone.

Turning, he saw his victim, frozen in a state of death, with his spear still raised up in a striking pose. Cao Hong, wouldn't have been impressed---he had done this many times---, if it wouldn't have been for the spear's tip, just millimeters above his head.

The soldier's body fell from his horse, the horse running off in another direction.

Three soldiers remained, their morale dwindling, as they began to wonder if they could indeed defeat this warrior. They decided quickly, that if they had a chance of defeating Cao Hong, it would be with their numbers.

All three of the remaining horsemen, one which was merely a boy, rushed Cao Hong from all sides.

Hong was prepared for their every move. They approached Cao Hong with spears raised, and when they were within a few yards of Hong, they hurled their spears, all at once. One of the spears rotated like a wheel, it was thrown by the young boy, and it would eventually fall harmlessly to the ground before its intended target.

Cao Hong simply jumped off of his mount, to the ground. If he would have been still on the horse, the spears would've hit directly into his chest. Being that he wasn't on the horse, the spears went over the horse. Two of the spears ended up, in the chest of two horsemen, quickly killing them. The last spear fell harmlessly to the ground, right in front of Cao Hong.

This meant that only one horseman remained. It wasn't for long, for Cao Hong didn't leave the remaining soldier anytime to grasp what had happened.

Picking up the wrongly thrown spear, Cao Hong rushed the soldier's horse. The young soldier was unable to make his horse move as Hong approached him from the side. Bringing his spear up, Hong threw it and it connected, squarely into the poor boy's chest.

The young soldier instantly had the wind knocked out of him, and he fell from his horse, hitting the ground hard.

Hong walked away from the soldier, knowing that he was still alive. Hong hated the idea of letting young teens into battle, so he had thrown his spear at him, with the blunt end impacting his chest.

The boy was lucky to have faced him, for he showed mercy to a certain degree. For goodness sake, the boy hadn't even been taught how to properly throw a spear.

"Fire!" Hong heard the sound of bows being drawn.

"Not good," muttered Hong as he turned to find a dozen archers facing him.

------------------------------------------

Schnider Huan stood behind the archers, watching Cao Hong. He could easily have the archers kill him, but he decided that he could use the entertainment.

With a simple hand signal from Huan, the archers lowered their bows away from Cao Hong.

Huan then unsheathed his sword, Flying Dragon, and began to walk towards Cao Hong, who had now brandished his sword, ready to take on Schnider Huan.

Huan knew that Cao Hong was no match for him, for he was weak. He had seen the act of mercy that he had given to the young soldier. Mercy will get you no where in battle. This rule was what Huan had grown up with, his father constantly imprinting it into his brain.

A few paces away from Cao Hong, Huan stopped, and waited for his opponent to make the first move.

Cao Hong, who didn't know that Schnider Huan was perhaps the greatest warrior in the land, charged him with a simple slash.

Huan read his every move as he brought up the hilt of his sword, bringing it crashing down onto Cao Hong's face. Blood sprayed, as Cao Hong's nose was broken instantly.

Leaving no time for Hong to recover from the blow, he brought his right foot up and kicked Hong in the stomach. It wouldn't have been so bad for Hong, except being for the spikes on Huan's armored boots. The kick sent Hong doubling over in pain, as blood began to gush out of the new punctures in his flesh.

Huan thought for sure that the fight, if you could call it one, was over, but he was amazed to find Hong pulling himself up to his feet and wielding his sword.

"You just don't know when to quit, now do you?"

Hong replied, "I will do what I must to save my lord. Even if it means giving my own life so that he may continue on in the battle for this land."

Huan laughed, "How valiant of you, but unfortunately there is no need for you in this time of chaos," he brought up his sword, "Time to die!"

He charged Hong, who could barely stay up on his feet.

Cao Hong brought up his sword, in a feeble attempt to ward of Schnider Huan's attack, but it was of no use. Huan's sword broke right through his, shattering it into hundreds of little shards. He managed to dodge past Huan's incoming blade, but he now found himself without a weapon.

Schnider Huan looked at him with no remorse---but to Hong's amazement---, Huan walked away from him, heading back towards the archers. He called out, "Why do you walk away? End it now so that I may rest in peace."

Huan simply replied, "I will not feel any achievement in killing you."

He was stunned, "You are going to let me live!"

Huan walked behind his archers, whispering to them to fit their bows with arrows. He turned to face Cao Hong again, "No, you will die."

At that the archers pulled back their bows, and released their arrows at Cao Hong.

Unable to do anything to prevent his fate, Cao Hong kneeled down and stared intently at Schnider Huan. It was the last thing he ever saw, as six out of the twelve arrows embedded themselves into his body.

Adding this to his other injuries from fighting Schnider Huan, Cao Hong was, without a doubt, dead.

---------------------------------------------

_2:24 a.m._

Cao Cao grabbed Yue Jin's hand, and he was pulled onto the muddy banks.

"That is the last time I go swimming in rapids," Li Dian was wringing out the excess the water in his shirt.

Yue Jin smiled, "Yeah, I almost drowned, but thanks to that gut of mine, I was able to get some extra buoyancy."

Li Dian laughed, but Cao Cao just didn't have the heart for it. He couldn't help but to think of Cao Hong's sacrifice that he had made to save him, "I wonder if Cao Hong made it."

Li Dian stopped his hysterical laughter, and quickly looked down with a grimace. Cao Cao hadn't meant to say his thought aloud, but he knew that was what the others were thinking as well.

Yue Jin broke the silence, "We should get to higher ground," remembering Cao Ren and the Xiahou's he also added, "Cao Ren will most likely meet up with us soon, and we should be on the look out for him."

The party left the banks of the river, and headed towards the heavily wooded hills that were nearby.

Yue Jin and Li Dian proceeded into the woods, following a worn-down animal path. Cao Cao was about to enter the woods as well, but the cry of a horse stopped him in his tracks. Silence followed. He knew that he should catch up with the others, but his curiosity got the best of him, as he found himself wandering away from the protected woods.

After a few minutes of walking, he found himself on an old logging road. This was where he was sure the noise originated from.

"_Should I call out? It might be a trap, or maybe it's Cao Ren and he's looking for us,"_ Cao Cao said to himself. After awhile he decided to call out, "Hello!"

Silence followed, but then he could hear the sound of hoof beats. Cao Cao's hope got the best of him as he shouted out, "Cao Ren, it's me, Cao Cao!"

The hoof beats grew louder, and now he could see a lone horsemen coming right for him. He only now noticed that there were about a thousand, torch holding, soldiers following the rider, and they were all shouting, "Death to the coalition!"

Cao Cao now knew that the horseman wasn't Cao Ren, but he was Xu Rong, governor of He Nei and a general under Dong Zhou's forces.

Xu Rong was almost upon Cao Cao. He knew that he should flee, but he was frozen in place and couldn't get his legs to move. "My fate is sealed," said Cao Cao, but when Xu Rong was about to run him through, he was struck by a spear that came from behind Cao Cao.

Xu Rong fell from his horse, choking on his own blood as he took his last breath.

Cao Cao turned to see five dozen riders being led by two warriors, the Xiahou brothers.

"My lord, take cover behind us," cried out Xiahou Dun. "We will take care of the soldiers."

Cao Cao ran behind a tree as the horsemen flew by him. The enemy soldiers knew that they outnumbered the riders, and they continued their advance.

In a matter of seconds, a full-fledged battle broke out between the two groups. Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan guided their horses back and forth through the enemy line, killing many as they passed by. Soon Xu Rong's troops were on the run, and the fight was over, with only a dozen dead riders for the Xiahou's and over three hundred dead for Xu Rong's army.

Cao Cao came out from his hiding place seeing that the danger was over. Quickly he asked to the Xiahou's, "Is Cao Ren with you?"

"No, we were separated near the cliffs when Li Ru ambushed us," replied Xiahou Yuan. "We lost many soldiers, but we managed to break through."

"Where are the others with you," asked Xiahou Dun.

"Yue Jin and Li Dian are in the woods somewhere. I left them because I heard a horse and I thought it was Cao Ren," said Cao Cao.

"Well, you found us at least," Xiahou Yuan tried to make Cao Cao feel better about him leaving Yue Jin and Li Dian.

"Yes...but what about Cao Hong," Xiahou Dun scratched his chin.

"He left us when we were about to cross the river," tears were coming to Cao Cao's eyes. "He stayed to hold off the enemy and in doing so, saved our lives."

Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan bowed their heads, realizing what most likely Cao Hong's fate was. "We should go and look for the others," Xiahou Dun called for a fellow horseman to get a horse for Cao Cao.

After searching for awhile the soldier found a horse that had lost its' previous master to the fight that had taken place moments before. He brought it back and led it by the reigns, to Cao Cao, who mounted it.

The party rode down the rode, but after taking only a few steps, they saw torches coming their way.

"Dong Zhou's army is coming," a soldier cried out in fear.

"Calm yourselves! Prepare for battle," Xiahou Dun organized the remaining riders.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you." Cao Cao turned to see a lone rider emerge from the surrounding trees. Only when the rider was a few feet in front of him, was he able to see who it actually was. "Cao Ren!"

"Cao Cao, I'm glad to see you, but Xiahou Dun doesn't seem too happy to see me," said Cao Ren jokingly, as Xiahou Dun had a spear raised towards him. He quickly put down the spear though when he realized that it was indeed Cao Ren.

"Those men are yours?" Xiahou Yuan rode up to Cao Ren, pointing towards the advancing torches.

"Yes, I managed to gather about five hundred soldiers," replied Cao Ren. Turning to Cao Cao he said, "I also found Yue Jin and Li Dian, and they have told me that you ran off without telling them?"

Cao Cao responded, "I thought I heard you, but it turned out to be Xu Rong. Luckily though the Xiahou's showed up to save me."

Cao Ren smiled, "Let's hope that we don't make the same mistake again, for they might not be there to rescue you next time."

Cao Cao bowed his head in shame, as he became aware of what could have happened, "I'm sorry for what I happened. For leading our force to an ambush, disobeying the others in the coalition, and for what I've put you all through. As a leader, I shouldn't have made these mistakes."

"Everyone makes mistakes my liege," said Cao Ren, "No one is perfect."

"Still, needless to say, I can't bear to return to the coalition with my army in shatters."

Xiahou Yuan piped up, "Blame this on those stupid Yuan's. They should have led the coalition to help us."

"No...we can't put blames on others because I did not heed their advice." Cao Cao began to think, and after a minute he said, "We will return to Chen Liu and rebuild our forces there. I have no choice but to leave the coalition, I will do them no good if I stay."

"We will not argue with our lord," said Cao Ren, speaking for the others.

Yue Jin and Li Dian appeared with the soldiers that Cao Ren had gathered. Cao Cao turned, speaking to everyone, "We are heading to Chen Liu, and we are...going home."

Even with their overwhelming losses, the soldiers let out a cheer for they were happy to go back home to their loved ones.

"First we must return to the capital, and inform Yuan Shao of our withdrawal from the coalition."

----------------------------------------

"Make sure all of those blocks are removed from the sacred grounds before we go into the temple itself!" Sun Jian pointed towards a group of soldiers who were busy tying ropes around huge rocks that were strewn all over the ground.

Upon entering the capital, Sun Jian had put out as many fires as possible, and had set his soldiers to work on restoring the sacred sites among Lou Yang. After hours of working on temples and shrines, he and his soldiers found themselves at the Hall of Paragons, which was a mess. Dong Zhou's forces had done a great job of destroying the fountains and walls, as well as the pillars that had once held up the hall itself.

Sun Jian shook his head, "How could that fat tyrant do this? He has no respect for the gods."

"Sir!"

He turned to see a soldier reporting in on the progress. Sun Jian asked, "How is the renovation work going?"

The soldier said grimly, "We are unable to restore the pillars to their former state, but the walls and fountains are almost repaired."

"Good work, sad news about the pillars though. Anything else?"

"Well," the soldier said hesitantly, "A man under my command found something that you may be interested in. Follow me, please."

Sun Jian followed the soldier to a well located near the entrance to the Hall of Paragons. A group of soldiers were milling around it, looking down into the well. They parted way, as Sun Jian approached it.

Looking down, Sun Jian saw an ordinary well, with a rope holding a bucket that was used to bring up water to the person that operated a nearby winch. Upon closer inspection though, he found that the walls were glistening with a rainbow-like light being reflected off of the water. Something was indeed down there.

Sun Jian turned towards the soldiers nearest him and said, "Go down there, and find out what is making that light."

The soldiers obeyed quickly, and after finding some ropes and a torch, they lowered themselves into the well which was about twelve feet deep.

Sun Jian waited patiently, and soon he heard a soldier shout out, "Lower a rope down for us, there is a dead woman down here!"

Two more soldiers, next to Sun Jian, tossed a rope down the well. After a few moments, the rope went taut, and the soldiers began to haul up the rope that was now tied around the dead women's body.

Other soldiers arrived to help pull up the soldiers in the well, but Sun Jian didn't notice as the dead women's body appeared over the opening of the well. Right away he noticed the imperial clothing she wore, and he also noticed a small pouch she wore around her neck.

Her body was lowered onto the ground, and immediately Sun Jian went for the pouch. Opening it up, he found the most spectacular sight. A small vermilion box, and inside the box was a small jade seal that was three or four inches around. The top was made of five intertwined dragons, and gold plating filled a chip in a corner.

Sun Jian read the inscription aloud, "By Heaven's mandate, long life and everlasting prosperity."

Soldiers around Sun Jian began to murmur among themselves.

Sun Jian couldn't believe what he held in his hands. It had caused the downfall and rise of many emperors and regional lords. Many have died fighting for the right to have it.

Sun Jian had found the imperial seal.


	5. Chapter 5: The Coalition Fails

"Dying is easy; it takes work to live."- (unknown)

"Those who do not change are doomed to be forgotten in time." – (Nobunaga Oda)

A dozen armed guards quickly filed past Benji and into the building ahead. Their armor glinted off of the morning sun. Benji didn't notice as he looked on at the immense building before him, "Only the gods could have designed such a perfect temple."

The building was fashioned out of well polished marble, and a huge statue of a white horse was facing westward; at the front of the temple itself. The horse statue stood to show the direction towards the Han's birthplace; near the lands of Chang An. To Su Benji, it stood to show where China's most formidable cavalry force was located at; the very army that Ma Teng was leading in Xi Liang.

Su Benji continued on, and entered through an arched gateway, stopping to ask directions to a guard standing nearby, "Excuse, but would you tell me where Yuan Shao's command post is stationed at?"

The soldier gave Benji a wary look when he glanced at his face, but eventually he replied, "Take a left down the main hall, and it's past the slave's corridors. Trust me you can't miss it; just follow the bodies."

"Thank you," Su Benji walked past the guard, and continued down the main hall; confused about the soldier's last statement. He shrugged it off, and his attention was quickly drawn to the walls lining the main hall.

Benji saw that the walls were covered with depressions, and what looked like, scratches. Upon closer inspection, he realized though, that they were engravings that depicted battles, and important times of the Han Empire.

"Maybe, someday, my battles will be on these walls as well," Benji continued on until he reached an intersection. He went left; just like the guard had said to, and quickly he noticed that the walls were stained with blood. There were also three bodies that had been lined up along the right wall.

"Odd…I had not been told of any resistance when the coalition took the capital." Benji bent down to inspect the bodies. He found out three things: First of all, they had died of spear wounds, in other words it had been a close combat battle; second, two of the soldiers were wearing the same armor that Yuan Shao's guard usually wore, with a golden chest plate and a purple cloak; third, the last of the three dead soldiers was wearing the armor of Sun Jian's personal guard.

Benji walked further down the corridor; more dead soldiers, a lot more. The armor never changed; it was always one of Sun Jian's soldiers or that of Yuan Shao's guard.

He began to realize that Dong Zhou's troops hadn't been part of the fighting. Suddenly, a terrible thought came to him. _What if the coalition has fallen apart? No, Sun Tzu had guaranteed him that the regional lords would last until Chang An had fallen._

Remembering the story of the imperial seal that had been told to him by his father, his thoughts shifted to a different idea as to what may have caused the sudden rift in the coalition.

"Unless something had been discovered among the ruins of Lou Yang that may have caused this," he muttered to himself.

Rounding a corner; Benji heard the sounds of swords clashing with one another. Faint cries of agony could be heard among the noise.

Benji drew his sword, "I guess that the fighting isn't quite over just yet."

He did not see any signs of combat in the hall that he was currently in, but the sounds of battle were drawing closer with each step he took.

Nearing the end of the corridor; Benji noticed that there was a three-way intersection: a path leading to the right, where the sounds of fighting were coming from, and a narrow hall leading to the left.

Benji halted, "Which path should I take?"

The sound of a soldier sobbing could be heard.

Benji scratched his chin, "The path on the right will be a lot more fun than the hall on the left."

He raised his sword, and prepared to charge around the corner.

The door to the left of Benji burst open, and out ran six of Yuan Shao's guard. The soldiers instantly recognized "The God of War", and hurriedly ran by him; rounding the corner to join the battle that was waging on the other side.

One of the soldiers, a sergeant, stopped upon seeing Benji, "My lord I am happy to see you."

Benji sheathed his sword, "What is going on here?"

"It is terrible; Sun Jian's men have revolted against the coalition."

"They have attacked other camps as well," questioned Benji.

"Well…no, I guess this is the only camp that they have raided so far," replied the sergeant.

Benji heaved a sigh of relieve, "So then the coalition has not yet dissolved."

"Tch, of course it hasn't." Benji turned to see a person clad in yellow, and wearing a helmet with a purple feather sticking out of the left side, standing near the door in which the soldiers had left from.

Benji bowed respectively, "You called upon me, supreme commander?"

Yuan Shao laughed, "To think that one with such a reputation would show such respect for me."

"I respect my superiors with an unyielding discipline," Benji said; still bowing.

"Yes, anyways, I did call upon you, and if you would be so kind as to follow me, I will tell you what I seek of you," Yuan Shao turned to enter back through the door, but he realized that Benji was still bowing, "You may rise."

Benji rose and entered into the room; Yuan Shao was at least gracious enough to hold the door open for Benji.

Looking at his surroundings, Benji noticed that Yuan Shao's command post was merely a tenant's quarters. The room was barely twenty paces long and no more than twelve paces wide. A small cot was in the right corner of the room, and there was a small desk with a chair. On the desk were two different maps; one of the Si Li area, and another who's land pattern reminded Benji of Jing, his homeland.

He couldn't help but question, "How did you, and your men fit in here?"

Yuan Shao sat himself onto the chair, "Tch, believe me, it wasn't very comfortable. I was quite happy when the chance a rose to send them out of here." At that Yuan Shao let out a chuckle.

Benji found it a little unnerving that the leader of the coalition would laugh at his very own soldiers, who were probably fighting with their very lives for him. He changed the subject though, before Yuan Shao noticed, "What is it that you wish me to do for you?"

"Ah, yes," Yuan Shao said, "As you now know, Sun Jian has turned against the coalition, and—."

"But why would he turn against a just cause," Benji interrupted Yuan Shao.

"I was just getting to that when you interrupted me," Yuan Shao replied.

Benji apologized, "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so anxious to help your Excellency." Benji was quite good at being a suck-up.

Yuan Shao smiled, "You're forgiven. I know how reckless youths can be," Yuan Shao continued, "Anyways, where was I…oh, yes. Sun Jian has turned against the coalition _and_ I know why he has done such a thing. One of my soldiers last night saw Sun Jian uncover an object from a well near the Hall of Paragons. Immediately I began to suspect that he had uncovered the imperial seal so I decided to summon him to headquarters to find out if that was the case. A messenger from Sun Jian's camp arrived shortly after, and told me that Sun Jian was unable to appear because he was sick."

"But you know that he wasn't because your soldier had just seen him working in the palace grounds," Su Benji said.

"Precisely," Yuan Shao said, "but when I was about to question the messenger's reply, he ran off, and then about a hundred or so of Sun Jian's troops stormed HQ. My men were completely caught off guard, but luckily it was a small force that was attacking. Last I heard, only about a dozen or so remain of them…"

A soldier entered the room, his armor was splattered with blood and his left arm had a deep gash in it, but he showed no signs of it even being there as he said, "Sir, we have just dealt with the last of Sun Jian's raid party, and we are awaiting further orders."

Yuan Shao smiled, "Excellent, have the men rest for now."

"Sir," the soldier replied, and left the room.

"Well, I was going to have you demolish what was left of the raiding party, but with the party now destroyed I can set you out on what is to be your main task," Yuan Shao pointed to the map that Su Benji had thought was of Jing. "Sun Jian's raid was a diversion, and a good one at that, for now he has a good half a day lead. Sun Jian had been appointed a governmental position at Chang Sha, and that is most likely where he is fleeing to, with the imperial seal in hand."

Yuan Shao moved his finger from Chang Sha to Xia Kou, a small river port currently under the domain of Liu Biao, "Right now Sun Jian has most likely just entered the Jing territory, and he will follow the river down to Chang Sha. I have ordered Liu Biao to set up an ambush at Xia Kou, in doing so this will prevent Sun Jian from reaching his destination."

"Yes, but what is it that you want me to do," Benji was becoming frustrated.

Sensing this, Yuan Shao replied, "Due to your knowledge of the terrain of Jing, I want you to hunt down Sun Jian and kill him. He has committed a terrible crime by stealing the imperial mandate, and he must be severely punished. Be wary of Sun Jian's strength, for he isn't called the Tiger of Jiang Dong for nothing."

"When should I leave," asked Benji, excitedly.

"As soon as you can mobilize your army," said Yuan Shao.

"I'll have the troops ready to depart in under an hour."

"Good, and when you accomplish your goal I want you to march your army to Chang An where the coalition will—."

There was a knock on the door.

"Enter," said Yuan Shao.

The door opened, and Su Benji instantly recognized Cao Cao, rising from his seat and graciously giving it to Cao Cao. Cao Cao simply declined, but thanked him for the kindness, "There is no need for me to sit, for this will be a short discussion."

Yuan Shao asked, "How did your army fare last night?"

"It was a massacre, Dong Zhou and that dog, Schnider Huan, set an ambush near Tong Pass…," Su Benji grew mad at hearing just the mere mention of the warrior that had slain his brother, Su Ru; his attention though, quickly returned to Cao Cao, "My men were completely caught off guard, for they had strategically positioned archers above the ravine; killing thousands of my men."

Cao Cao began to pace uneasily, "I, and a few of my brave warriors, managed to make it to the river, but we were chased down by more of Huan's troops. With no other option available, we swam across the river." His voice became somber, "Unfortunately, my uncle Cao Hong stayed to hold them off. I don't believe he made it alive."

Yuan Shao didn't seem to care, "So you suffered a loss, big deal. Many generals have faced defeat before, but they were able to replenish their forces and return to the battlefield in no time."

"I have barely five hundred troops left," replied Cao Cao.

Yuan Shao's eyes grew big, "But you had ten thousand soldiers under your command, and…"

Cao Cao didn't let him finish, "I'm returning to Chen Liu, my force is no longer apart of this coalition."

Yuan Shao was furious, "What! How dare you leave us when we are so close to our objective?"

"My army is in shatters, the men's morale is at its lowest, and my beloved uncle is most likely dead. This coalition will never be able to take Chang An at its present state. We should be proud of driving off Dong Zhou's forces from the imperial capital, for even I hadn't dreamed that the coalition would've lasted this long," returned Cao Cao.

"We can take Chang An, if only you'd stay and fight with us!"

Cao Cao headed for the door, ignoring Yuan Shao's pleas. He stopped, and said, "The empire, long divided, must unite, long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been."

Yuan Shao asked, "What is that suppose to mean?"

"It is from a song that the children have been signing since Dong Zhou usurped the Han throne. As for the meaning…I'm returning to Chen Liu, you should no the meaning," and with that Cao Cao left the room.

Su Benji instantly understood what Cao Cao was trying to say, that he was leaving to build his own force, his own rule, but Yuan Shao was still pondering over it, "What does a stupid children's song have to do with any of this?"

It was all Su Benji could do just to not say how stupid he was, so instead he said, "When I have killed Sun Jian, should I bring my army back to Chang An?"

Yuan Shao went into a fit, tossing the maps, and knocking over the chair. Eventually he calmed down enough to reply, "What do I care, the coalition is finished."

Benji stood, waiting hopefully for a change of heart in the coalition's efforts, but after five minutes of Yuan Shao moping, he left.

As he closed the door, Benji wondered, "Should I too leave to form my own rule?"

He continued back through the hallways that he had passed through before; this time there weren't any bodies, the soldiers had removed them after defeating Sun Jian's troops.

Some of the soldiers, though, were scrubbing away at the blood that had stained the floor. They simply used a piece of cloth dipped in water; resources were low at the moment. Their efforts were mostly in vain.

Benji reached the main entrance where he quickly recognized the guard that he had asked directions from previously. The guard looked like he was in a damp mood so he said, "Cheer up soldier! I have a feeling that you will be returning home in due time."

The guard's expression did not change, and Benji continued onward.

Looking up at the mid-afternoon sun, Benji remembered Yuan Shao's orders that had been given to him by the imperial court, "_I want you to hunt down Sun Jian and kill him. He has committed a terrible crime by stealing the imperial mandate, and he must be severely punished._"

Benji passed by the white horse statue, but at the last moment he decided to stop. He walked to the front of the statue, and there he knelt and prayed to the gods, "May the gods grant me favor on this quest upon which I am about to embark, may they grant me the power to quell the chaos that has plagued this land, and may they grant me a good day of tiger hunting."


End file.
